Teheran-ro


Teheran-ro is a street in the Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea. It runs from Gangnam Station through Yeoksam-dong and into Samseong-dong. It is colloquially known as "Teheran Valley" due to the number of internet-related companies operating there. The district of Gangnam-gu experienced phenomenal growth and waves of construction, with Teheran-ro becoming one of the busiest streets in South Korea. Its counterpart, Seoul St. in Tehran, Iran, runs in the north of that city, close to the Evin district.
Teheran-ro is a 3.5 km section of Seoul City Route 90, and runs eastwards from Gangnam Station to Samseong Station and the COEX/KWTC complex. Yeoksam and Seolleung stations are also on Teheran-ro. All stations are on Seoul Subway Line 2.
Some of Korea's tallest skyscrapers and most expensive real estate are in Teheran-ro, while Seoul Metropolitan Government estimates that more than half of Korea's venture capital, some 200 billion won, is invested in Teheran Valley.

Name

On 27 June 1977, the Seoul Metropolitan Government suggested that the city of Seoul and Tehran, pre-revolutionary Iran exchange the names of streets on the occasion of the visit to Korea of Gholamreza Nikpey, Mayor of Tehran. The following year, Samneungno street was renamed Teheran-ro, which then ran through a relatively underdeveloped area that been annexed into Seoul in 1963.

Economy

The area hosts major domestic internet portals Daum and Naver as well as Google. Samsung Electronics and Hynix both operate offices there. Various Korean and international financial and business institutions including POSCO, Standard Chartered and Citibank also maintain offices there.
The headquarters of LOEN Entertainment, one of the largest music companies in the country, is located in Teheran-ro.

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