South Korea
Category:East Asian countries
The
Republic of Korea (ROK;
Korean:
Daehan Minguk (
Hangul: 대한 민국;
Hanja: 大韓民國)) commonly known as
South Korea is a country in
East Asia, covering the southern half of the
Korean peninsula. To the north, the Republic of Korea borders
North Korea, with which it formed a single nation until
1948, while
Japan lies across
East Sea and
Korea Strait to the southeast. The country is commonly called
Hanguk (한국; 韓國) by South Koreans and
Namchosŏn (남조선; 南朝鮮; "South
Chosŏn") in
North Korea.
History
\nMain articles: History of Korea, History of South Korea
After the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was involuntarily divided-up into two zones of influence by the world's super powers, followed in 1948 by two matching governments: a communist North and a United States-influenced South. In June 1950, the Korean War started. The United Nations-backed South and the Chinese-backed North eventually reached a stalemate and an armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a demilitarised zone at about the 38th parallel, which had been the original demarcation line.
Thereafter, the southern Republic of Korea, under the autocratic government of Syngman Rhee and the dictatorship of Park Chunghee achieved rapid economic growth. Civil unrest dominated politics until protests succeeded in overthrowing the dictatorship and installing a more democratic form of government in the 1980's. A potential Korean reunification has remained a prominent topic; no peace treaty has yet been signed with the North. In June 2000, a historic first North-South summit took place, part of the South's continuing "Sunshine Policy" of engagement, despite recent concerns over the North's nuclear weapons programme.
See also: rulers of Korea
Politics
\nMain article: politics of South Korea
Head of state of the republic of Korea is the president, who is elected by direct popular vote for a single five-year term. In addition to being the highest representative of the republic and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the president also has considerable executive powers and appoints the prime minister with approval of parliament, as well as appointing and presiding over the State Council or cabinet.
The unicameral Korean parliament is the National Assembly or Gukhoe (국회), whose members serve a four-year term of office. The legislature currently has 299 seats, of which 243 are elected by regional vote and the remainder are distributed by the proportional representation ballot. The highest judiciary body is the Supreme Court, whose justices are appointed by the president with the consent of parliament.
Provinces and cities
\n''Main article: administrative divisions of Korea.
\nSouth Korea consists of 9 Provinces (
do, singular and plural;
도;
道), 1 Special City (
Teukbyeolsi; 특별시; 特別市), and 6 Metropolitan Cities (
Gwangyeoksi, singular and plural; 광역시; 廣域市): \n*
Busan Gwangyeoksi (부산 광역시; 釜山廣域市) \n*
North Chungcheong (
Chungcheongbuk-do; 충청 북도; 忠清北道) \n*
South Chungcheong (
Chungcheongnam-do; 충청 남도; 忠清南道) \n*
Daegu Gwangyeoksi (대구 광역시; 大邱廣域市) \n*
Daejeon Gwangyeoksi (대전 광역시; 大田廣域市) \n*
Gangwon-do (강원도; 江原道) \n*
Gwangju Gwangyeoksi (광주 광역시; 光州廣域市) \n*
Gyeonggi-do (경기도; 京畿道) \n*
North Gyeongsang (
Gyeongsangbuk-do; 경상 북도; 慶尚北道) \n*
South Gyeongsang (
Gyeongsangnam-do; 경상 남도; 慶尚南道) \n*
Incheon Gwangyeoksi (인천 광역시; 仁川廣域市) \n*
Jeju-do (제주도; 濟州道) \n*
North Jeolla (
Jeollabuk-do; 전라 북도; 全羅北道) \n*
South Jeolla (
Jeollanam-do; 전라 남도; 全羅南道) \n*
Seoul Teukbyeolsi (서울 특별시; 漢城特別市) \n*
Ulsan Gwangyeoksi (울산 광역시; 蔚山廣域市)
See also:
provinces of Korea and
special cities of Korea
Geography
\nMain articles: geography of South Korea
Korea forms a
peninsula that extends some 1,100 km from the
Asian mainland, flanked by the Yellow Sea to the west and the Sea of Japan to the east, and terminated by the Tsushima Strait and the East China Sea to the south. The southern landscape consists of partially forested mountain ranges to the east, separated by deep, narrow valleys. Densely populated and cultivated coastal plains are found in the west and south.
The local
climate is relatively
temperate, with
precipitation heavier in summer during a short rainy season called
jangma, and winters that can be bitterly cold on occasion. South Korea's capital and largest city is
Seoul in the northwest, other major cities include nearby
Incheon, central
Daejeon,
Gwangju in the southwest and
Daegu and
Busan in the southeast.
See also: regions of Korea
Economy
\nMain article: economy of South Korea\n \nAs one of the four East Asian Tigers, South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world economy. Three decades ago
GDP per capita was comparable with levels in the poorer countries of
Africa and
Asia. Today its GDP per capita is roughly 20 times
North Korea's and equal to the lesser economies of the
European Union.
This success through the late
1980s was achieved by a system of close government/business ties, including directed credit, import restrictions, sponsorship of specific industries, and a strong labour effort. The government promoted the import of raw materials and technology at the expense of consumer goods and encouraged savings and investment over consumption. The
Asian financial crisis of
1997 exposed longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's development model, including high debt/equity ratios, massive foreign borrowing, and an undisciplined financial sector.
Growth plunged by 6.6% in
1998, then strongly recovered to 10.8% in
1999 and 9.2% in
2000. Growth fell back to 3.3% in
2001 because of the slowing global economy, falling exports, and the perception that much-needed corporate and financial reforms have stalled. Led by industry and construction, growth in
2002 was an impressive 5.8%, despited anemic global growth.
Demographics
\nMain article: demographics of South Korea
The Korean people
\nKorea's population is one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogenous in the world, with the only minority being a small Chinese community. People whose parents are a mixed couple (e.g. American servicemen, European businessmen... who married a Korean woman) are perceived as a minority there and quite often discriminated (e.g. children at school).
Koreans have lived in
Manchuria for many centuries, who are now a
minority in China, and
Joseph Stalin sent thousands of Koreans, against their will, to
Central Asia (in the former
U.S.S.R) from
Vladivostok and
Khabarovsk, while the majority of Korean population in
Japan was brought there as forced labor during the \ncolonial period. \nPolitical, social and economic instability in South Korea have driven many South Koreans to emigrate to foreign countries, amongst which the friendship, freedom and opportunities provided by the
United States and
Canada render popularity.
California has an extremely large number of Koreans and\nKorean-Americans, numbering well over one million people.
Cities
\nAbout 85 percent of South Koreans live in urban areas. The capital city of Seoul had 10.4 million inhabitants in
2000, making it the most populated single city (excluding greater metropolitan areas) in the world. Its density has allowed it to become one of the most "digitally-wired" cities in today's globally connected ecomony. Other major cities include
Busan (3.9 million),
Incheon (2.9 million),
Daegu (2.65 million),
Daejeon (1.48 million),
Gwangju (1.38 million) and
Ulsan (1.15 million).
Language
\nThe Korean language, thought by some scholars to be a member of a wider linguistic family of the
Altaic languages, is currently classified as a
language isolate by western scholars. Its vocabulary, however, has borrowed a lot from neighboring countries, especially from
Chinese.
The Korean writing system,
Hangul, was invented in
1446 by
King Sejong the Great to widely spread education - as
Chinese characters were thought to be too difficult and time consuming for a common person to learn - through the Royal proclamation of Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음/訓民正音) which literally means the "proper sounds to teach the general public." It is different from the Chinese form of written
communication as it is phonetically based. \nNumerous underlying words still stem from
Hanja and older people in
Korea still prefer to write words in Hanja, as they were strictly forbidden to study and speak the Korean language when Japan ruled. Koreans are the only people in the world who fully understand how, when and why their written language was created through the transcripts of King Sejong's innovative contribution. \nIn
2000 the government decided to introduce a new
romanisation system, which this article also uses.
English is taught as a second language in most primary and intermediate schools. Those students in high school are also taught 2 years of either
Chinese,
Japanese,
French,
German or
Spanish as an elective course.
Religion
\nChristianity (31.7%) and
Buddhism (23.9%) comprise South Korea's two dominant religions. Christianity
grew exponentially in the 1970s and early 1980s, and despite slower growth in the 1990s, overtook Buddhism as the largest single faith.
Presbyterians (with around 7.8 million members),
Roman Catholics (3.8 million),
Pentecostals (1.7 million), and
Methodists (1.4 million) are the largest denominations. Statistics have been published purporting to show that almost 50 percent of South Koreans are Christians, but these figures are almost certainly inflated, due to the high incidence of dual membership and unrecorded transferal of membership among different denominations. Christians, although well represented in all parts of South Korea, are especially strong around Seoul, where they comprise about 50 percent of the population. \nBuddhism is stronger in the more conservative south of the country. There are a number of different "schools" in Buddhism; among them are the
Seon (선) (closely related to
Zen in
Japan and
Chan in
China, and the more modern Wonbulgyo (원불교) movement, which emphasizes the unity of all things. Other religions comprise about 9.4 percent of the population. These include
Shamanism (traditional spirit worship) and Cheondogyo, an indigenous religion combining elements of Buddhism,
Taoism,
Confucianism, and Christianity.
Confucianism is small in terms of self-declared adherents, but the great majority of South Koreans, irrespective of their formal religious affiliation, are strongly influenced by Confucianist values, which continue to permeate Korean culture. \nAbout 35 percent of South Koreans profess to follow no particular religion. There are also about 37 000 members of the
Bahai Faith and about 33 000
Muslims.
Culture and tourism
\nMain articles: culture of Korea, contemporary culture of South Korea
South Korea shares its traditional culture with that of North Korea. Throughout history, the
Korean culture was influenced by that of
China. Today, there is a big boom in China where the wind is blowing in the opposite direction in terms of popular music, fashion and television drama.
Traditional culture has also been influenced by
Buddhism,
Christianity and
Confucianism. Many great scholars and philosophers lived in Korea, but are not well known to outsiders who show lack of deep interest in Korean studies.
South Koreans must receive permission from their government to visit North Korea, or may be imprisoned under the draconian National Security Laws upon return.
Miscellaneous topics
\n* List of all Korea-related topics \n*
Christianity in Korea \n*
Cities of South Korea \n*
Communications in South Korea \n*
Foreign relations of South Korea \n*
History of Korea \n*
Korean Buddhism \n*
Korean Shamanism \n*
List of Famous Koreans \n*
Military of South Korea \n*
Roads and Expressways in South Korea \n*
Silla - the kingdom that unified Korea \n*
Subways in South Korea \n*
Transportation in South Korea \n*
Public holidays in South Korea
External links
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