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Ulsan

The world’s largest shipyard, and whales carved seven thousand years ago.

Capital
Ulsan
Status
Metropolitan city
Region
Yeongnam (Gyeongsang)
Must-see
The Bangudae petroglyphs
Local specialty
Historic whale dishes, grilled fish, pears

Ulsan holds Hyundai’s shipyard, the largest in the world, a major refinery and the most productive car plant on the planet: the city posts Korea’s highest GDP per head. A few kilometres away, the Bangudae cliff carries Neolithic petroglyphs showing whale-hunting scenes, among the oldest known evidence of the practice. The site is submerged part of the year by a dam, which long posed a conservation problem.

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