South Korea, officially the
Republic of Korea (
ROK, , ) and sometimes referred to simply as
Korea, is a
state in
East Asia, located on the southern portion of the
Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the
People's Republic of China to the west,
Japan to the east, and
North Korea to the north. Its capital is
Seoul. South Korea lies in a
temperate climate region with a predominantly mountainous terrain. Its territory covers a total area of 99,392 square kilometers and has a population of .
Archaeological findings show that the Korean Peninsula was occupied by the
Lower Paleolithic period.
OPM.go.kr Korean history begins with the founding of
Gojoseon in 2333
BC by the legendary
Dan-gun. Following the unification of the
Three Kingdoms of Korea under
Silla 668 AD,
Korea went through the
Goryeo Dynasty and
Joseon Dynasty as one nation until the end of the
Korean Empire in 1910, when Korea was annexed by Japan. After
liberation and occupation by Soviet and U.S. forces at the end of World War II, the nation was divided into North and South Korea. The latter was established in 1948 as a
democracy.
After the invasion of South Korea by forces from the North on , the resulting
war between the two Koreas ended in an uneasy cease-fire, and the border between the two nations is currently the most heavily fortified in the world. After the war, the
South Korean economy grew significantly and the country was transformed into a
major economy, a
full democracy, and a
regional power in East Asia.
South Korea is a
presidential republic consisting of sixteen
administrative divisions and is a
developed country with a very high
standard of living. It is Asia's fourth largest economy and world's
15th (
nominal) or
12th (
purchasing power parity) largest economy. The economy is export-driven, with production focusing on
electronics,
automobiles,
ships,
machinery,
petrochemicals and
robotics. South Korea is a member of the
United Nations,
WTO,
OECD and
G-20 major economies. It is also a founding member of
APEC and the
East Asia Summit.
History
Before division
Korean history begins with the legendary founding of Joseon (often known as "
Gojoseon" to prevent confusion with another dynasty founded in the 14th century; the prefix Go- means 'old' or 'earlier') in 2333
BCE by
Dangun, according to Korean foundation mythology. Gojoseon expanded until it controlled northern Korean Peninsula and some parts of
Manchuria. After numerous conflicts with the Chinese
Han Dynasty, Gojoseon disintegrated, leading to the
Proto-Three Kingdoms of Korea period.
In the early centuries of the Common Era,
Buyeo,
Okjeo,
Dongye, and the
Samhan confederacy occupied the peninsula and southern Manchuria. Of the various small states,
Goguryeo,
Baekje, and
Silla grew to control the peninsula as
Three Kingdoms of Korea. The unification of the Three Kingdoms by
Silla in 676 led to the
North South States Period, in which much of the Korean Peninsula was controlled by
Unified Silla, while
Balhae succeeded the northern parts of Goguryeo. In
Unified Silla, poetry and art was encouraged, and Buddhist culture flourished. Relationships between Korea and China remained relatively peaceful during this time. However, Unified Silla weakened under internal strife, and surrendered to
Goryeo in 935.
Balhae, Silla's neighbor to the north, was formed as a successor state to Goguryeo. During its height, Balhae controlled most of Manchuria and parts of Russia. It fell to the
Khitan in 926.
The peninsula was united by
Emperor Taejo of
Goryeo in 936. Like Silla, Goryeo was a highly cultural state and created the
Jikji in 1377, using the world's oldest movable metal
printing press. The
Mongol invasions in the 13th century greatly weakened Goryeo. After nearly 30 years of war, Goryeo continued to rule Korea, though as a tributary ally to the Mongols. After the
Mongolian Empire collapsed, severe political strife followed and the Goryeo Dynasty was replaced by the
Joseon Dynasty in 1388 following a rebellion by General
Yi Seong-gye.
King Taejo declared the new name of Korea as "Joseon" in reference to
Gojoseon, and moved the capital to
Seoul. The first 200 years of the Joseon Dynasty were marked by relative peace and saw the creation of
Hangul by
King Sejong the Great in the 14th century and the rise in influence of
Confucianism in the country.
is the largest of the
Five Grand Palaces built during the
Joseon Dynasty.]]
Between 1592 and 1598, the
Japanese invaded Korea.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi led the forces and tried to invade the Asian continent through Korea, but was eventually repelled by the
Righteous army and assistance from
Ming Dynasty China. This war also saw the rise of Admiral
Yi Sun-sin and his renowned "
turtle ship". In the 1620s and 1630s, Joseon suffered from
invasions by the Manchu who eventually conquered all of China.
After another series of
wars against Manchuria, Joseon experienced a nearly 200-year period of peace.
King Yeongjo and
King Jeongjo especially led a new renaissance of the Joseon Dynasty.
However, the latter years of the Joseon Dynasty were marked by excessive dependence on China for external affairs and isolation from the outside world. During the 19th century, Korea's isolationist policy earned it the name the "
Hermit Kingdom". The Joseon Dynasty tried to protect itself against Western
imperialism, but was eventually forced to open trade. After the
Sino-Japanese War and the
Russo-Japanese War, Korea came under
Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945). At the end of World War II, the Japanese surrendered to Soviet and U.S. forces who occupied the northern and southern halves of Korea, respectively.
's
Gangnam district today]]
After division
Despite the initial plan of a unified Korea in the 1943
Cairo Declaration, escalating
Cold War antagonism between the
Soviet Union and the United States eventually led to the establishment of separate governments, each with its own ideology, leading to
Korea's division into two political entities in 1948:
North Korea and South Korea. In the North, a former anti-Japanese guerrilla and communist activist,
Kim Il-sung gained power through Soviet support, and in the South, an exiled and right-wing Korean political leader,
Syngman Rhee, was installed as president.
, seen from the
Han River, hosted the
1988 Summer Olympics.]]
On 25 June 1950,
North Korea invaded South Korea, sparking the
Korean War, the Cold War's first major conflict. At the time, the
Soviet Union had boycotted the
United Nations (UN), thus forfeiting their veto rights. This allowed the UN to intervene in a civil war when it became apparent that the superior North Korean forces would unify the entire country. The Soviet Union and China backed North Korea, with the later participation of millions of
Chinese troops. After huge advances on both sides, and massive losses among Korean civilians in both the north and the south, the war eventually reached a stalemate. The 1953 armistice, never signed by South Korea, split the peninsula along the
demilitarized zone near the original demarcation line. No peace treaty was signed, resulting in the two countries remaining technically at war. At least people died during the Korean War.
Korean War (1950–53). Britannica Online Encyclopedia.
In 1960,
a student uprising led to the resignation of the autocratic President
Syngman Rhee. A period of political instability followed, broken by General
Park Chung-hee's
military coup (the "5–16
coup d'état") against the weak and ineffectual government the next year. Park took over as president until
his assassination in 1979, overseeing rapid
export-led economic growth as well as severe political repression. Park was heavily criticised as a ruthless military dictator, although the Korean economy developed significantly during his tenure.
The years after Park's assassination were marked again by considerable political turmoil as the previously repressed opposition leaders all campaigned to run for president in the sudden political void. In 1980 there was another
coup d'état by General
Chun Doo-hwan against the transitional government of
Choi Kyu Hah, the interim president and a former prime minister under Park. Chun assumed the presidency, triggering nationwide protests demanding
democracy, in particular in the city of
Gwangju, where Chun sent special forces to violently suppress the
Gwangju Democratization Movement.
Flashback: The Kwangju massacre, 2000-05-17.
Chun and his government held Korea under a despotic rule until 1987, when a
Seoul National University student was tortured to death.
20 years later, father still seeks truth in son's death, The Hankyoreh, 2007-01-15. Retrieved 2010-07-15. On , the
Catholic Priests Association for Justice revealed the incident, igniting huge demonstrations around the country. Eventually, Chun's party, the
Democratic Justice Party, and its leader,
Roh Tae-woo announced the June 29th Declaration, which included the direct election of the president. Roh went on to win the election by a narrow margin against the two main opposition leaders,
Kim Dae-Jung and
Kim Young-Sam.
In 1988, Seoul hosted the
1988 Summer Olympics. It became a member of the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1996.
About Korea, OECD It was adversely affected by the
1997 Asian Financial Crisis. However the country was able to recover and continue its economic growth, albeit at a slower pace.
In June 2000, as part of president Kim Dae-Jung's "
Sunshine Policy" of engagement, a
North–South summit took place in
Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Later that year, Kim received the
Nobel Peace Prize "for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular."
In 2002, South Korea and Japan jointly co-hosted the
2002 FIFA World Cup, however
South Korean and Japanese relations later
soured due to conflicting claims of
sovereignty over the
Liancourt Rocks (referred to as Dokdo in Korea, and Takeshima in Japan), in what became known as the
Liancourt Rocks dispute.
Government
]]
Like many democracies, South Korea's government is divided into three branches:
executive,
judicial, and
legislative. The executive and legislative branches operate primarily at the national level, although various ministries in the executive branch also carry out local functions. Local governments are semi-autonomous, and contain executive and
legislative bodies of their own. The judicial branch operates at both the national and local levels. South Korea is a constitutional democracy.
The South Korean government's structure is determined by the
Constitution of the Republic of Korea. This document has been revised several times since its first promulgation in 1948 at independence. However, it has retained many broad characteristics and with the exception of the short-lived
Second Republic of South Korea, the country has always had a presidential system with an independent chief executive. The first direct
election was also held in 1948. Although South Korea experienced a series of military dictatorships since the 1960s up until the 1980s, it has since developed into a successful
liberal democracy. Today, the
CIA World Factbook describes South Korea's democracy as a "fully functioning modern democracy".
Administrative divisions
See also Special cities of Korea and Provinces of Korea
The major administrative divisions in South Korea are
provinces,
metropolitan cities (self-governing cities that are not part of any province), and one
special city.
Foreign relations
Lee Myung-bak, with former
U.S. President George W. Bush.]]
South Korea maintains diplomatic relations with more than 188 countries. The country has also been a member of the
United Nations since 1991, when it became a member state at the same time as North Korea. On January 1, 2007, South Korean Foreign Minister
Ban Ki-moon assumed the post of
UN Secretary-General. It has also developed links with the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations as both a member of
ASEAN Plus three, a body of observers, and the
East Asia Summit (EAS).
Beginning in May 2007, South Korea and the
European Union have been negotiating a
free trade agreement to reduce trade barriers. South Korea is also negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with Canada, and another with
New Zealand. In November 2009, South Korea made its accession to the OECD
Development Assistance Committee marking the first time a former aid recipient country has joined the group as a donor member. South Korea has also agreed to host the G-20 Summit in Seoul in 2010.
China
Historically, Korea has had relatively close relations with China. Before the formation of South Korea, Korean independence fighters worked with Chinese soldiers during the Japanese occupation. However, after
World War II, the People's Republic of China embraced
Maoism while South Korea sought close relations with the United States. The PRC assisted North Korea with manpower and supplies during the
Korean War, and in its aftermath the diplomatic relationship between South Korea and the PRC almost completely ceased. Relations thawed gradually and South Korea and the PRC re-established formal diplomatic relations on August 24, 1992. The two countries sought to improve bilateral relations and lifted the forty-year old trade embargo, and South Korean-Chinese relations have improved steadily since 1992. The Republic of Korea broke off official relations with the
Republic of China upon gaining official relations with the People's Republic of China.
NYtimes.com, published 1992-08-24
Japan
has become an issue known as the
Liancourt Rocks dispute]]
Although there were no formal diplomatic ties between South Korea and Japan after the end of World War II, South Korea and Japan signed the
Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea in 1965 to establish diplomatic ties. There is heavy
anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea due to a number of unsettled
Japanese-Korean disputes, many of which stem from the period of
Japanese occupation. During
World War II, more than 100,000 Koreans were forced to serve in the
Imperial Japanese Army.A Brief History of the US-Korea Relations Prior to 1945. "While less than 100 Koreans in America enlisted in the US military during World War II, more than 100,000 Koreans served in the Japanese army as officers and soldiers. There were two Korean Lt. Generals in the Japanese Army: a Chosun prince, whose rank was honorary and who commanded no troops; and Lt. Gen. Hong Sa-Ik, who was a professional military man from the old Chosun army." Korean women were lured to the war front to serve the Imperial Japanese Army as sexual slaves, called
comfort women.
Longstanding issues such as
Japanese war crimes against Korean civilians, the visits by Japanese politicians to the
Yasukuni Shrine honoring Japanese soldiers killed at war (including some class A war criminals), the re-writing of
Japanese textbooks related to Japanese acts during World War II, and the territorial disputes over
Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo in Korean)
Dynamic-korea.com continue to trouble Korean-Japanese relations. Although Liancourt Rocks are claimed by both Korea and Japan, the islets are currently administered by South Korea, which has its
Korean Coast Guard stationed there.
"Liancourt Rocks / Takeshima / Dokdo / Tokto",
Globalsecurity
In response to then-
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, former
President Roh Moo-hyun suspended all summit talks between South Korea and Japan.
North Korea
Both
North and South Korea continue to officially claim sovereignty over the entire peninsula and any outlying islands. With longstanding animosity following the
Korean War from 1950 to 1953, North Korea and South Korea signed an agreement to pursue peace. On October 4, 2007, Roh Moo-Hyun and North Korean leader
Kim Jong-il signed an eight-point agreement on issues of permanent peace, high-level talks, economic cooperation, renewal of train services, highway and air travel, and a joint Olympic cheering squad.
Despite the Sunshine Policy and efforts at reconciliation, the progress was complicated by
North Korean missile tests in
1993,
1998,
2006 and
2009. , relationships between North and South Korea were very tense; North Korea had been reported to have deployed missiles, ended its former agreements with South Korea, and threatened South Korea and the United States not to interfere with a satellite launch it had planned.
North and South Korea are still technically at war (having never signed an armistice after the Korean War) and share the world's most heavily fortified border. On May 27, 2009, North Korea declared that the ceasefire treaty, signed post Korean War, is no longer valid due to the South Korean government's pledge to "definitely join" the
Proliferation Security Initiative. To further complicate and intensify strains between the two nations, the
sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in March 2010, killing 46 seamen, is as of May 20, 2010, claimed by a multi-national research team to have been caused by a North Korean torpedo, which the North denies. South Korea agreed with the findings from the research group and President Lee Myung-bak declared in May 2010 that Seoul would cut all trade with North Korea as part of measures primarily aimed at striking back at North Korea diplomatically and financially.
Clinton: Koreas security situation 'precarious', by Matthew Lee, Associated Press, 24-05-2010 As a result of this, North Korea severed all ties, completely abrogated the previous pact of non aggression and expelled all South Koreans from
a joint industrial zone in Kaesong.
Text from North Korea statement, by Jonathan Thatcher, Reuters, 25-05-2010
United States
The United States engaged in the decolonization of Korea (mainly in the South, with the Soviet Union engaged in North Korea) from Japan after World War II. After three years of military administration by the United States, the South Korean government was established. Upon the onset of the Korean War, U.S. forces were sent to defend South Korea against invasion by North Korea and later China. Following the ceasefire, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to a "Mutual Defense Treaty", under which an attack on either party would summon a response from both. Currently, the
U.S. Eighth Army,
Seventh Air Force and
U.S. Naval Forces Korea are stationed in South Korea. The two nations have strong economic, diplomatic and military ties, although they have at times disagreed with regards to policies towards North Korea. There has also been strong anti-American sentiment during certain periods, most of which has calmed recently. In 2007, a free trade agreement known as the
Republic of Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) was signed between South Korea and the United States, but has not yet been approved by the legislative bodies of the two countries.
Military
A long history of invasions by neighbors and the unresolved tension with North Korea have prompted South Korea to allocate 2.6% of its GDP and 15% of all government spending to its military, while maintaining compulsory conscription for men.
Globalsecurity.org Consequently, South Korea has the world's sixth largest number of
active troops, the world's second-largest number of
reserve troops and the eleventh largest
defence budget. The Republic of Korea, with a regular military force numbering regular personnel among a total national population of people, has the second highest number of soldiers per capita in the world, after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.Bermudez (2001), pg 1.
Sejong the Great (DDG 991), a
King Sejong the Great -class
guided-missile destroyer]]
The South Korean military consists of the
Army (ROKA), the
Navy (ROKN), the
Air Force (ROKAF), and the
Marine Corps (ROKMC), and reserve forces.GlobalSecurity on Military of Republic of Korea,
Globalsecurity.org Many of these forces are concentrated near the
Korean Demilitarized Zone. All South Korean males are constitutionally required to serve in the military, typically for a period of two years. Previously, Koreans of mixed race were exempt from military duty if they "look distinctively biracial", but such policy is potentially up for abolition pending further review by the Ministry of Defense.
In addition to male conscription in South Korea's sovereign military, 1000 Korean males are selected every year to serve two years in the
KATUSA Program to further augment the USFK.
In 2010, South Korea was spending ₩1.68 trillion in a cost-sharing agreement with the US to provide budgetary support to the US forces in Korea, on top the ₩29.6 trillion budget for its own military.
The
South Korean army has 2,500
tanks in operation, including the
K1A1 and
K2 Black Panther, which form the backbone of the South Korean army's mechanized armor and infantry forces. A sizable arsenal of many artillery systems, including 1,700 self-propelled
K55 and
K9 Thunder howitzers, and 680 helicopters and UAVs of numerous types, are assembled to provide additional fire, reconnaissance, and logistics support. South Korea's smaller but more advanced artillery force and wide range of airborne reconnaissance platforms are pivotal in the
counter-battery suppression of North Korea's over-sized artillery force, which operates more than 13,000 artillery systems deployed in various state of fortification and mobility.
The
South Korean navy has made its first major transformation into a blue-water navy through the formation of the Strategic Mobile Fleet, which includes a battle group of
Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class destroyers,
Dokdo class amphibious assault ship,
AIP-driven Type 214 submarines, and
King Sejong the Great class destroyers, which is equipped with the latest baseline of
Aegis fleet-defense system that allows the ships to track and destroy multiple cruise missiles and ballistic missiles simultaneously, forming an integral part of South Korea's indigenous missile defense umbrella against the North Korean military's missile threat.
The
South Korean air force operates 840 aircraft, making it world's ninth largest air force, including several types of advanced fighters like
F-15K, heavily modified
KF-16C/D,
F-16.net and the indigenous
F/A-50,
Imageshack.us Imageshack.us supported by well-maintained fleets of older fighters such as
F-4E and
KF-5E/F that still effectively serve the air force alongside the more modern aircraft. In an attempt to gain strength in terms of not just numbers but also modernity, the commissioning of four
Boeing 737 AEW&C aircraft, under Project Peace Eye for
centralized intelligence gathering and analysis on a modern battlefield, will enhance the fighters' and other support aircraft's ability to perform their missions with awareness and precision.
F-15K strike fighters]]
From time to time, South Korea has sent its troops overseas to assist American forces. It has participated in most major conflicts that the United States has been involved in the past 50 years. South Korea dispatched 325,517 troops to fight alongside American, Australian,
Filipino,
New Zealand and
South Vietnamese soldiers in the
Vietnam War, with a peak strength of 50,000. In 2004, South Korea sent 3,300 troops of the
Zaytun Division to help re-building in northern
Iraq, and was the third largest contributor in the
coalition forces after only the US and Britain. Beginning in 2001, South Korea had so far deployed 24,000 troops in the Middle East region to support the
War on Terrorism. A further 1,800 were deployed since 2007 to reinforce UN peacekeeping forces in
Lebanon.
The United States has stationed a substantial contingent of
troops in South Korea since the
Korean War to defend South Korea in case of
East Asian military crises. There are also approximately 28,500
U.S. Military personnel stationed in Korea, most of them serving one year of unaccompanied tours. The American troops, which primarily are assigned to the
Eighth United States Army are stationed in installations at
Osan, Yongsan,
Dongducheon, Sungbuk, and
Daegu. A still functioning
UN Command is technically the top of the
chain of command of all forces in South Korea, including the US forces and the entire South Korean military – if a sudden escalation of war between North and South Korea were to occur, as of currently, the United States would assume control of the South Korean armed forces in all military and paramilitary moves. However, in September 2006, the Presidents of the United States and the Republic of Korea agreed that South Korea should assume the lead for its own defense. In early 2007, the U.S. Secretary of Defense and ROK Minister of National Defense determined that South Korea will assume wartime operational control of its forces on April 17, 2012. U.S. Forces Korea will transform into a new joint-warfighting command, provisionally described as Korea Command (KORCOM).
Geography and climate
of South Korea]]
tea field]]
South Korea occupies the southern portion of the
Korean Peninsula, which extends some 680 miles (1,100 km) from the Asian mainland. This mountainous peninsula is flanked by the
Yellow Sea to the west, and
Sea of Japan (East Sea) to the east. Its southern tip lies on the
Korea Strait and the
East China Sea.
The country's total area is .The estimated area rises steadily from year to year, possibly due to land reclamation.
South Korea can be divided into four general regions: an eastern region of high mountain ranges and narrow
coastal plains; a western region of broad coastal plains,
river basins, and rolling hills; a southwestern region of mountains and valleys; and a southeastern region dominated by the broad basin of the
Nakdong River.
Geography of Korea, Asia Info Organization
South Korea's terrain is mostly mountainous, most of which is not
arable.
Lowlands, located primarily in the west and southeast, constitute only 30% of the total land area.
About three thousand islands, mostly small and uninhabited, lie off the western and southern coasts of South Korea.
Jeju-do is located about 100 kilometers (about 60 mi) off the southern coast of South Korea. It is the country's largest island, with an area of 1,845 square kilometres (712 sq mi). Jeju is also the site of South Korea's highest point:
Hallasan, an extinct
volcano, reaches 1,950 meters (6,398 ft) above sea level. The most eastern islands of South Korea include
Ulleungdo and
Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo), while
Marado and
Socotra Rock are the southernmost islands of South Korea.
South Korea has
20 national parks and popular nature places like the
Boseong Tea Fields,
Suncheon Bay Ecological Park, and the first national park of
Jirisan.
Korea Nationa Park Service official site
Climate
