News sources and blogs alike are both buzzing with the news of Google Earth 5.0’s new features.  But the most interesting new feature for Koreans may be the Historical Imagery option.  Google Earth now has a timeline slider that users can manipulate to show satellite imagery from different dates.  Satellite images of Seoul have 4 points now – 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2009.  While satellite coverage of the entire peninsula was pretty sketchy in 2002, one can still see detailed street-level images of the capital, Seoul, from 7 years ago.

Many small things were different in the city that is constantly a forest of construction cranes.  Two of the most striking differences were the resurrection of a historically important stream, the Cheonggyecheon that ran in an easterly direction through Seoul’s downtown district.  In the rapid industrialization of the city after the Korean War, the stream was basically paved over, and an elevated highway being built over that could be considered a double paving.  However, in July 2003, then-mayor Lee Myung-bak, who is now president of the country, instituted a program to tear up both levels of roads and restore the stream as a park for city beautification.  The four different dates of satellite imagery actually capture the stream in different levels of renovation, while the oldest shows only a road and the newest shows only a stream.  

A similar project also created by Lee Myung-bak near the Seoul City Hall shows an elliptical park being created.  In 2002 there was only a traffic intersection, but in 2009 one can see the park which is often used for city-wide events.  It is also a popular destination for street protesters to fight against riot police when dissenting against the government.

Other major features of Google Earth 5.0 are also rather shocking – the company has added all the world’s ocean floors and Mars to the free application.  It has also created a Touring feature, where people are able to create their own fly-through, narrated tours to share with others.