From Xinhua: “Seoul’s city government had decided to change its Chinese name, still known to Chinese by its ancient name of Hancheng.
The new name combines two Chinese characters, ȶñÂ∞î, which produce the sound ‘Shouer,’ similar in pronunciation to the South Korean name Seoul, officials said.
At present Chinese refer to Seoul as Hancheng (Hanseong in Korean), the Chinese name the city was known by in past centuries.”
Thanks to Danwei for the link.