Jinju belonged to Byeonhan in the Three-Han Period and became Jinju-mok in 983A.D. (the 2nd year of King Seogjong, the Goryeo Dynasty). Jinju became the capital of Gyeongnam province in 1896 (the 1st year of king Gojong, the Joseon Dynasty), when the government conducted the 13 province system, Gyeongnam being one of them. In 1925, the capital moved to Busan and in 1931, Jinju-gun promoted to Jinju-eup. In 1939, Jinju-gun was renamed as Jinyang-gun and Jinju-eup, forming Jinju-bu. In 1949, Jinju-bu promoted to Jinju-si. On January 1, 1995, Jinju-si and Jinyang-gun was merged to today's Jinju-si, the rural and urban compound city.
Jinju, as the rural and urban compound city, has a larger portion of agriculture industries compared to other cities. It is the city of the agricultural technology, which started the greenhouse gardening for the first time in Korea with the fertile earth, the proper weather, and the advanced agricultural technology. Jinju exports to Japan and other Southeast Asian countries the crops such as cucumber, strawberries, peppers, watermelons, pimento, paprika and squashes as well as the local agricultural specialties like Jinju pears and sweet persimmons.
Jinju is a strategic point of the transportation with Namhae Expressway and Daejeon-Jinju Expressway, the local roads No.2, No.3 and No.23, Sancheon Airport and the train line, Gyeongjeon-seon. It connects Yeong-Honam Area and central-south area of Korea. Jinju is also the center of the west Gyeongnam commerce. Featuring the city of education and culture, Jinju has more portion of service industries than primary and secondary industries. Utilizing the local environment and its competence, Jinju is proceeding to the high value-added industries such as tourism, logistics, distributions, and revising the industrial structure to the research-oriented industries like the biotechnology, aerospace technology, also fostering the local specified industries like silk and agricultural processing industries.
