South Korea

country in East Asia
“ Republic of Korea ” redirects here. For the democratic People ‘s Republic of Korea, see North Korea. For other uses, see Korea ( disambiguation ) “ Daehanminguk ” redirects here. For the politics in exile that used the same identify, see probationary Government of the Republic of Korea Coordinates :

Reading: South Korea

Republic of Korea “ Republic of Korea ” in Hangul ( top ) and Hanja ( bottom ) scripts .South Korean nameHangul대한민국Hanja大韓民國TranscriptionsMcCune–Reischauer Taehan Min ’ guk
South Korea, [ boron ] officially the Republic of Korea ( ROK ), [ coulomb ] is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern separate of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a down frame with North Korea. Its western surround is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern boundary line is defined by the Sea of Japan. About 25 million people, around half of the country ‘s population of 51 million, live in the Seoul Capital Area. The korean Peninsula was inhabited vitamin a early as the Lower Paleolithic period. Its first kingdom was noted in taiwanese records in the early seventh hundred BCE. Following the union of the Three Kingdoms of Korea into Silla and Balhae in the late seventh century, Korea was ruled by the Goryeo dynasty ( 918–1392 ) and the Joseon dynasty ( 1392–1897 ). The succeeding korean empire was annexed in 1910 into the Empire of Japan. japanese rule in Korea ended following the erstwhile ‘s surrender in World War II, after which Korea was divided into two zones ; a northerly zone occupied by the Soviet Union and a southern partition occupied by the United States. After negotiations on reunion failed, the latter became the Republic of Korea in August 1948 while the early became North Korea. In 1950, a north korean invasion began the Korean War, which saw extensive United States -led U.N. treatment in support of the South, while China intervened to support the North with soviet aid. After the war ‘s end in 1953, the nation ‘s economy began to soar, recording the fastest arise in modal GDP per caput in the earth between 1980 and 1990. The June Struggle led to the end of authoritarian rule in 1987 and the nation is now considered among the most promote democracies in Asia, with the highest level of crusade freedom. however, corruption and political scandals have become growing problems in recent years ; both living former confederacy korean presidents have been sentenced to prison for respective crimes ranging from abuse of authority to bribery and embezzlement and are still serving their sentences. [ 15 ] South Korea is a develop country and is ranked as the seventh-highest country on the Human Development Index ( HDI ) in the Asia and Oceania region. Its economy ranks as the world ‘s tenth-largest by nominative GDP. Its citizens enjoy one of the worldly concern ‘s fastest Internet connection speeds and the densest high-speed railway network. The country is the global ‘s fifth-largest exporter and eighth-largest importer. South Korea was in 2017 the worldly concern ‘s 7th largest emitter of carbon paper emissions and the 5th largest emitter per caput. Since the twenty-first hundred, South Korea has been renowned for its globally influential pop culture, particularly in music ( K-pop ), television receiver drama and cinema, a phenomenon referred to as the korean Wave. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] [ 19 ] [ 20 ] It is a penis of the OECD ‘s Development Assistance Committee, the G20, and the Paris Club .

etymology

The name Korea derives from the identify Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first gear used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo, which was considered a capital might of East Asia during its clock time, in the fifth century as a sawed-off class of its list. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] [ 23 ] [ 24 ] The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, [ 25 ] [ 26 ] [ 27 ] [ 28 ] [ excessive citations ] and thus inherited its list, which was pronounced by the visiting iranian merchants as “ Korea ”. [ 29 ] The modern name of Koreia, appears in the first Portuguese maps of 1568 by João vaz Dourado as Conrai [ 30 ] and by and by in the late sixteenth century and early seventeenth century as Korea ( Corea ) in the maps of Teixeira Albernaz of 1630. [ 31 ] The kingdom of Goryeo became beginning known to Westerners when Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Malacca in 1511 and described the peoples who traded with this contribution of the universe known by the Portuguese as the Gores. [ 32 ] Despite the coexistence of the spellings Corea and Korea in 19th century publications, some Koreans believe that Imperial Japan, around the time of the japanese occupation, intentionally standardized the spell on Korea, making Japan appear first alphabetically. [ 33 ] [ 34 ] [ 35 ] After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the official name for the integral territory, though it was not universally accepted. [ citation needed ] The new official name has its origin in the ancient kingdom of Gojoseon ( 2333 BCE ). In 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official list of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk ( Korean Empire ). The name Daehan ( Great Han ) derives from Samhan ( Three Han ), referring to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, not the ancient confederacies in the southern korean Peninsula. [ 36 ] [ 37 ] however, the name Joseon was however widely used by Koreans to refer to their nation, though it was no longer the official name. Under japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted. There were several groups who fought for independence, the most noteworthy being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea ( 대한민국 임시정부 / 大韓民國臨時政府 ). Following the giving up of Japan, in 1945, the “ Republic of Korea ” ( 대한민국 / 大韓民國, IPA : ˈtɛ̝ːɦa̠nminɡuk̚, fall. ‘Great korean People ‘s State ‘ ; ) was adopted as the legal English name for the new country. however, it is not a directly transformation of the korean appoint. [ 38 ] As a result, the Korean name “ Daehan Minguk ” is sometimes used by South Koreans as a metonym to refer to the korean ethnicity ( or “ subspecies “ ) as a hale, rather than equitable the south korean state. [ 39 ] [ 38 ] Conversely, the official name of North Korea in English, the “ democratic People ‘s Republic of Korea ”, is a target translation of the korean diagnose. Since the government only controlled the southerly separate of the Korean Peninsula, the informal condition “ South Korea ” was coined, becoming increasingly common in the westerly world. While South Koreans use Han ( or Hanguk ) to refer to both Koreas jointly, North Koreans and heathen Koreans living in China and Japan use the term Joseon rather .

history

Ancient Korea

The korean Peninsula was inhabited adenine early as the Lower Paleolithic period. [ 45 ] [ 46 ] The history of Korea begins with the initiation of Joseon ( besides known as “ Gojoseon “, or Old Joseon, to differentiate it with the fourteenth century dynasty ) in 2333 BCE by Dangun, according to Korea ‘s basis mythology. [ 47 ] [ 48 ] Gojoseon was noted in chinese records in the early seventh century. [ 49 ] Gojoseon expanded until it controlled the northern Korean Peninsula and parts of Manchuria. Gija Joseon was purportedly founded in the twelfth century BCE, but its universe and role have been controversial in the modern era. [ 48 ] [ 50 ] In 108 BCE, the Han dynasty defeated Wiman Joseon and installed four commanderies in the northerly Korean peninsula. Three of the commanderies fell or retreated west within a few decades. As Lelang commandership was destroyed and rebuilt around this time, the place gradually moved toward Liaodong. Thus, its storm was diminished and it only served as a trade center until it was conquered by Goguryeo in 313. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] [ 53 ]

Three Kingdoms of Korea

During the time period known as the Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea, the states of Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye and Samhan occupied the hale korean peninsula and southern Manchuria. From them, Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla emerged to control the peninsula as the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Goguryeo, the largest and most knock-down among them, was a highly militaristic state, [ 54 ] [ 55 ] and competed with respective chinese dynasties during its 700 years of history. Goguryeo experienced a fortunate historic period under Gwanggaeto the Great and his son Jangsu, [ 56 ] [ 57 ] [ 58 ] [ 59 ] who both subdued Baekje and Silla during their times, achieving a brief union of the Three Kingdoms of Korea and becoming the most dominant power on the korean Peninsula. [ 60 ] [ 61 ] In addition to contesting for control of the Korean Peninsula, Goguryeo had many military conflicts with assorted chinese dynasties, [ 62 ] most notably the Goguryeo–Sui War, in which Goguryeo defeated a huge force said to number over a million men. [ 63 ] [ 64 ] [ 65 ] [ 66 ] [ 67 ] [ excessive citations ] Baekje was a great maritime power ; [ 68 ] its nautical skill, which made it the Phoenicia of East Asia, was instrumental in the dissemination of Buddhism throughout East Asia and continental culture to Japan. [ 69 ] [ 70 ] Baekje was once a bang-up military ability on the Korean Peninsula, particularly during the time of Geunchogo, [ 71 ] but was critically defeated by Gwanggaeto the Great and declined. [ 72 ] [ self-published source ] Silla was the smallest and weakest of the three, but it used cunning diplomatic means to make opportunist pacts and alliances with the more mighty korean kingdoms, and finally Tang China, to its great advantage. [ 73 ] [ 74 ] The union 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 Later Silla, while Balhae controlled the northern parts of Goguryeo. Balhae was founded by a Goguryeo cosmopolitan and formed as a successor state to Goguryeo. During its altitude, Balhae controlled most of Manchuria and parts of the Russian Far East, and was called the “ golden country in the East ”. [ 75 ] Later Silla was a aureate age of art and culture, [ 76 ] [ 77 ] [ 78 ] [ 79 ] as evidenced by the Hwangnyongsa, Seokguram, and Emille Bell. Relationships between Korea and China remained relatively passive during this time. Later Silla carried on the maritime art of Baekje, which acted like the Phoenicia of medieval East Asia, [ 80 ] and during the 8th and 9th centuries dominated the seas of East Asia and the deal between China, Korea and Japan, most notably during the time of Jang Bogo ; in accession, Silla people made oversea communities in China on the Shandong Peninsula and the mouth of the Yangtze River. [ 81 ] [ 82 ] [ 83 ] [ 84 ] Later Silla was a golden and affluent country, [ 85 ] and its metropolitan capital of Gyeongju [ 86 ] was the fourth largest city in the populace. [ 87 ] [ 88 ] [ 89 ] [ 90 ] Buddhism flourished during this prison term, and many korean Buddhists gained big fame among chinese Buddhists [ 91 ] and contributed to chinese Buddhism, [ 92 ] including : Woncheuk, Wonhyo, Uisang, Musang, [ 93 ] [ 94 ] [ 95 ] [ 96 ] and Kim Gyo-gak, a Silla prince whose influence made Mount Jiuhua one of the Four Sacred Mountains of chinese Buddhism. [ 97 ] [ 98 ] [ 99 ] [ 100 ] [ 101 ] [ excessive citations ] however, Later Silla weakened under inner strife and the revival of Baekje and Goguryeo, which led to the Later Three Kingdoms menstruation in the late ninth hundred .

Unified Dynasties

In 936, the Later Three Kingdoms were united by Wang Geon, a descendant of Goguryeo nobility, [ 102 ] who established Goryeo as the successor country of Goguryeo. [ 25 ] [ 26 ] [ 27 ] [ 28 ] Balhae had fallen to the Khitan Empire in 926, and a decade late the last crown prince of Balhae fled south to Goryeo, where he was warmly welcomed and included into the ruling kin by Wang Geon, thus unifying the two successor nations of Goguryeo. [ 103 ] Like Silla, Goryeo was a highly cultural state, and invented the alloy chattel type print press. [ 40 ] [ 41 ] [ 42 ] [ 43 ] [ 44 ] [ 104 ] [ 105 ] [ excessive citations ] After defeating the Khitan Empire, which was the most mighty conglomerate of its time, [ 106 ] [ 107 ] in the Goryeo–Khitan War, Goryeo experienced a golden age that lasted a century, during which the Tripitaka Koreana was completed and there were great developments in print and publish, promoting learn and dispersing cognition on philosophy, literature, religion, and skill ; by 1100, there were 12 universities that produced celebrated scholars and scientists. [ 108 ] [ 109 ] however, the Mongol invasions in the thirteenth century greatly weakened the kingdom. Goryeo was never conquered by the Mongols, but exhausted after three decades of crusade, the korean court sent its crown prince to the Yuan capital to swear commitment to Kublai Khan, who accepted, and married one of his daughters to the Korean crown prince. [ 110 ] Henceforth, Goryeo continued to rule Korea, though as a tributary ally to the Mongols for the adjacent 86 years. During this period, the two nations became intertwined as all subsequent korean kings married Mongol princesses, [ 110 ] and the death empress of the Yuan dynasty was a korean princess. In the mid-14th century, Goryeo drove out the Mongols to regain its northerly territories, briefly conquered Liaoyang, and defeated invasions by the Red Turbans. however, in 1392, General Yi Seong-gye, who had been ordered to attack China, turned his united states army around and staged a coup. Yi Seong-gye declared the new name of Korea as “ Joseon ” in reference to Gojoseon, and moved the das kapital to Hanseong ( one of the old names of Seoul ). [ 111 ] The first 200 years of the Joseon dynasty were marked by peace, and saw great advancements in science [ 112 ] [ 113 ] and education, [ 114 ] a well as the creation of Hangul by Sejong the Great to promote literacy among the common people. [ 115 ] The prevailing political orientation of the time was Neo-Confucianism, which was epitomized by the seonbi class : nobles who passed up positions of wealth and power to lead lives of survey and integrity. between 1592 and 1598, Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched invasions of Korea, but his boost was halted by korean forces ( most notably the Joseon Navy led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin and his celebrated “ turtle transport “ ) [ 116 ] [ 117 ] [ 118 ] [ 119 ] [ 120 ] [ excessive citations ] with aid from righteous Army militia formed by korean civilians, and Ming dynasty Chinese troops. Through a series of successful battles of attrition, the japanese forces were finally forced to withdraw, and relations between all parties became normalize. however, the Manchus took advantage of Joseon ‘s war-weakened department of state and invaded in 1627 and 1637, and then went on to conquer the destabilize Ming dynasty. After normalizing relations with the newly Qing dynasty, Joseon experienced a closely 200-year period of peace. Kings Yeongjo and Jeongjo particularly led a new renaissance of the Joseon dynasty during the eighteenth hundred. [ 121 ] [ 122 ] In the nineteenth hundred, the royal in-law families gained control of the government, leading to mass corruption and de-escalate of the country, and dangerous poverty and peasant rebellions throughout the state. furthermore, the Joseon government adopted a hard-and-fast isolationist policy, earning the nickname “ the hermit kingdom “, but ultimately failed to protect itself against imperialism and was forced to open its borders. After the first Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Korea was annexed by Japan ( 1910–1945 ). Towards the end of World War II, the U.S. proposed dividing the korean peninsula into two occupation zones ( a U.S. and Soviet one ). Dean Rusk and Charles H. Bonesteel III suggested the 38th parallel as the separate line, as it placed Seoul under U.S. control. To the surprise of Rusk and Bonesteel, the Soviets accepted their marriage proposal and agreed to divide Korea. [ 123 ]

modern history

Despite the initial plan of a mix Korea in the 1943 Cairo Declaration, escalating Cold War antagonism between the Soviet Union and the United States finally led to the establishment of discriminate governments, each with its own political orientation, leading to the division of Korea into two political entities in 1948 : North Korea and South Korea. In the South, Syngman Rhee, an adversary of communism, who had been backed and appointed by the United States as lead of the probationary government, won the first presidential elections of the newly declared Republic of Korea in May. In the North, however, a early anti-Japanese guerrilla and communist militant, Kim Il-sung, was appointed premier of the democratic People ‘s Republic of Korea in September. In October, the Soviet Union declared Kim Il-sung ‘s government as autonomous over both parts. The UN declared Rhee ‘s politics as “ a lawful government having effective control and legal power over that part of Korea where the UN Temporary Commission on Korea was able to observe and consult ” and the Government “ based on elections which was observed by the Temporary Commission ” in addition to a statement that “ this is the merely such politics in Korea. ” [ 125 ] Both leaders began an authoritarian repression of their political opponents inside their region, seeking for a union of Korea under their control. While South Korea ‘s request for military documentation was denied by the United States, North Korea ‘s military was heavy reinforced by the Soviet Union .

Korean War

On 25 June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, sparking the Korean War, the Cold War ‘s inaugural major conflict, which continued until 1953. At the clock time, the Soviet Union had boycotted the United Nations ( UN ), therefore forfeiting their veto rights. This allowed the UN to intervene in a civil war when it became apparent that the victor north korean forces would unify the entire state. The Soviet Union and China backed North Korea, with the later engagement of millions of taiwanese troops. After an ebb and flow that saw both sides facing kill with massive losses among korean civilians in both the north and the south, the war finally reached a stalemate. During the war, Rhee ‘s party promoted the One-People Principle ( based on the german political orientation of the Herrenvolk ) an feat to build an obedient citizenry through ethnic homogeneity and authoritarian appeals to patriotism. [ 126 ] The 1953 armistice, never signed by South Korea, split the peninsula along the demilitarize partition near the original line line. No peace treaty was ever signed, resulting in the two countries remaining technically at war. approximately 3 million people died in the Korean War, with a higher proportional civilian end price than World War II or the Vietnam War, making it possibly the deadliest dispute of the Cold War-era. In accession, about all of Korea ‘s major cities were destroyed by the war. [ 127 ] [ 128 ] [ 129 ] [ 130 ] [ 131 ] [ excessive citations ]

Post-Korean War ( 1960–1990 )

In 1960, a scholar rebellion ( the “ April 19 Revolution ” ) led to the resignation of the authoritarian then-President Syngman Rhee. This was followed by 13 months of political instability as South Korea was led by a weak and futile politics. This instability was broken by the 16 May 1961, coup d’etat led by General Park Chung-hee. As president, Park oversaw a period of rapid export-led economic increase enforced by political repression. Park was heavily criticized as a pitiless military dictator, who in 1972 extended his rule by creating a new constitution, which gave the president sweep ( about authoritarian ) powers and permitted him to run for an inexhaustible number of six-year terms. The korean economy developed significantly during Park ‘s tenure. The government developed the nationally expressway system, the Seoul underpass system, and laid the foundation garment for economic growth during his 17-year tenure, which ended with his assassination in 1979. The years after Park ‘s character assassination were marked again by political agitation, as the previously suppressed opposition leaders all campaigned to run for president in the sudden political evacuate. In 1979, General Chun Doo-hwan led the Coup d’état of December Twelfth. Following the Coup d’état, Chun Doo-hwan planned to rise to office through several measures. On 17 May, Chun Doo-hwan forced the Cabinet to expand warlike jurisprudence to the wholly nation, which had previously not applied to the island of Jejudo. The expanded soldierly law closed universities, banned political activities, and far curtailed the bid. Chun ‘s assumption of the presidency through the events of 17 May triggered countrywide protests demanding majority rule ; these protests were peculiarly focused in the city of Gwangju, to which Chun sent special forces to violently suppress the Gwangju Democratization Movement. [ 132 ] Chun subsequently created the National Defense Emergency Policy Committee and took the presidency according to his political plan. Chun and his government held South Korea under a despotic rule until 1987, when a Seoul National University student, Park Jong-chul, was tortured to death. [ 133 ] On 10 June, the Catholic Priests Association for Justice revealed the incident, igniting the June Democracy Movement around the country. finally, Chun ‘s party, the democratic Justice Party, and its drawing card, Roh Tae-woo, announced the 6.29 Declaration, which included the lead election of the president. Roh went on to win the election by a narrow gross profit against the two independent enemy leaders, Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam. Seoul hosted the Olympic Games in 1988, widely regarded as successful and a significant hike for South Korea ‘s global image and economy. [ 134 ] South Korea was formally invited to become a extremity of the United Nations in 1991. The transition of Korea from autocracy to modern democracy was marked in 1997 by the election of Kim Dae-jung, who was sworn in as the eighth president of South Korea, on 25 February 1998. His election was significant given that he had in earlier years been a political prisoner sentenced to death ( late commuted to exile ). He won against the backdrop of the 1997 asian Financial Crisis, where he took IMF advice to restructure the economy and the nation soon recovered its economic growth, albeit at a slower footstep. [ 135 ]

Contemporary South Korea

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 majority rule and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in detail ”. [ 136 ] however, because of discontentment among the population for bootless approaches to the North under the previous administrations and, amid north korean provocations, a cautious government was elected in 2007 led by President Lee Myung-bak, former mayor of Seoul. interim, South Korea and Japan jointly co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup. however, south korean and japanese relations belated soured because of conflicting claims of reign over the Liancourt Rocks .
In 2010, there was an escalation in attacks by North Korea. In March 2010 the confederacy korean warship ROKS Cheonan was sunk with the loss of 46 south korean sailors, allegedly by a north korean bomber. In November 2010 Yeonpyeong island was attacked by a significant north korean artillery barrage, with 4 people losing their lives. The lack of a strong reply to these attacks from both South Korea and the external community ( the official UN report declined to explicitly name North Korea as the perpetrator for the Cheonan sinking ) caused significant anger with the south korean public. [ 138 ] South Korea saw another milestone in 2012 with the first ever female president of the united states Park Geun-hye elected and assuming office. Daughter of another former president, Park Chung-hee, she carried on a button-down brand of politics. President Park Geun-hye ‘s administration was formally accused of corruptness, bribery, and influence-peddling for the engagement of conclude friend Choi Soon-sil in state affairs. There followed a series of massive public demonstrations from November 2016 [ 139 ] and she was removed from agency. [ 140 ] After the fallout of President Park ‘s impeachment and dismissal, new elections were held and Moon Jae-in of the Democratic party won the presidency, assuming function on 10 May 2017. His tenure therefore far has seen an improving political kinship with North Korea, some increasing divergence in the military confederation with the United States, and the successful host of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. [ 141 ] The COVID-19 pandemic affected the nation in 2020. That same class, South Korea recorded more deaths than births, resulting in a population refuse for the first clock on record. [ 142 ]

Geography, climate and environment

geography

South Korea occupies the southerly parcel of the Korean Peninsula, which extends some 1,100 km ( 680 mi ) from the asian mainland. This mountainous peninsula is flanked by the Yellow Sea to the west, and the Sea of Japan to the east. Its southerly tap lies on the Korea Strait and the East China Sea. The country, including all its islands, lies between latitudes 33° and 39°N, and longitudes 124° and 130°E. Its total area is 100,032 square kilometers ( 38,622.57 sq nautical mile ). [ 143 ] South Korea can be divided into four general regions : an eastern area of high mountain ranges and constrict coastal plains ; a western region of broad coastal plains, river basins, and rolling hills ; a southwestern region of mountains and valleys ; and a southeast region dominated by the broad basin of the Nakdong River. [ 144 ] South Korea is home to three mundane ecoregions : central Korean deciduous forests, Manchurian shuffle forests, and Southern Korea evergreen forests. [ 145 ] South Korea ‘s terrain is by and large mountainous, most of which is not arable. Lowlands, located chiefly in the west and southeasterly, make up lone 30 % of the total land area. About three thousand islands, largely modest and uninhabited, lie off the western and southern coasts of South Korea. Jeju-do is about 100 kilometers ( 62 miles ) off the southerly slide of South Korea. It is the country ‘s largest island, with an area of 1,845 square kilometers ( 712 squarely miles ). Jeju is besides the site of South Korea ‘s highest point : Hallasan, an extinct vent, reaches 1,950 meters ( 6,400 feet ) above ocean horizontal surface. The easternmost islands of South Korea include Ulleungdo and Liancourt Rocks ( Dokdo/Takeshima ), while Marado and Socotra Rock are the southernmost islands of South Korea. [ 144 ] South Korea has 20 national parks and popular nature places like the Boseong Tea Fields, Suncheon Bay Ecological Park, and the inaugural national park of Jirisan. [ 146 ]

climate

Seoul

Climate chart (explanation)

j
fluorine
molarity
A
megabyte
j
j
A
second
o
nitrogen
d

−6

−4

102

133

328

348

138

−3

Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mmSource: [147]

Imperial conversion
JFMAMJJASOND

0.9

1.8

environment

Cheonggyecheon river is a modern public recreation space in downtown Seoul. During the beginning 20 years of South Korea ‘s growth scend, little effort was made to preserve the environment. [ 149 ] Unchecked industrialization and urban exploitation have resulted in deforestation and the ongoing destruction of wetlands such as the Songdo Tidal Flat. [ 150 ] however, there have been holocene efforts to balance these problems, including a politics run $ 84 billion five-year green emergence project that aims to boost department of energy efficiency and k engineering. [ 151 ] The green-based economic scheme is a comprehensive renovation of South Korea ‘s economy, utilizing about two percentage of the national GDP. The greening enterprise includes such efforts as a nationally motorcycle network, solar and wind energy, lowering oil subject vehicles, backing daylight spare time and extensive usage of environmentally friendly technologies such as LEDs in electronics and lighting. [ 152 ] The nation – already the world ‘s most wire – plans to build a countrywide next-generation network that will be 10 times faster than broadband facilities, in order to reduce energy use. [ 152 ] The renewable portfolio standard broadcast with renewable energy certificates runs from 2012 to 2022. [ 153 ] Quota systems favor big, vertically integrate generators and multinational electric utilities, if only because certificates are generally denominated in units of one megawatt-hour. They are besides more difficult to design and implement than a Feed-in tariff. [ 154 ] Around 350 residential micro combined heat and baron units were installed in 2012. [ 155 ] In 2017, South Korea was the earth ‘s 7th largest emitter of carbon emissions and the 5th largest emitter per head. The president of the united states Moon Jae-in pledged to reduce greenhouse flatulence emissions – which contribute to climate change – to zero in 2050. [ 156 ] [ 157 ] Seoul ‘s tap water recently became dependable to drink, with city officials branding it “ Arisu “ in a bid to convince the public. [ 158 ] Efforts have besides been made with afforestation projects. Another multibillion-dollar plan was the restoration of Cheonggyecheon, a pour running through downtown Seoul that had earlier been paved over by a expressway. [ 159 ] One major challenge is air travel quality, with acerb rain, sulphur oxides, and annual yellow dust storms being particular problems. [ 149 ] It is acknowledged that many of these difficulties are a result of South Korea ‘s proximity to China, which is a major air polluter. [ 149 ] South Korea had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean grade of 6.02/10, ranking it 87th globally out of 172 countries. [ 160 ] South Korea is a penis of the Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity Treaty, Kyoto Protocol ( forming the Environmental Integrity Group ( EIG ), regarding UNFCCC, [ 161 ] with Mexico and Switzerland ), Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty ( not into pull ), Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, and Whaling. [ 162 ]

politics

The south korean politics ‘s structure is determined by the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. Like many democratic states, [ 163 ] South Korea has a government divided into three branches : executive, judicial, and legislative. The executive and legislative branches operate primarily at the national horizontal surface, although diverse ministries in the executive branch besides carry out local functions. local governments are semi-autonomous, and contain administrator and legislative bodies of their own. The judicial ramify operates at both the national and local levels. South Korea is a built-in majority rule .
The united states constitution has been revised several times since its first promulgation in 1948 at independence. however, it has retained many across-the-board characteristics and with the exception of the ephemeral Second Republic of South Korea, the state has constantly had a presidential system with an autonomous foreman administrator. [ 164 ] Under its current constitution the state is sometimes referred to as the Sixth Republic of South Korea. The first send election was besides held in 1948. Although South Korea experienced a series of military dictatorships from the 1960s until the 1980s, it has since developed into a successful liberal majority rule. today, the CIA World Factbook describes South Korea ‘s democracy as a “ in full functioning mod democracy ”. [ 165 ] South Korea is ranked forty-fifth on the Corruption Perceptions Index ( 9th in the Asia-Pacific region ), with a score of 57 out of 100. [ 166 ]

administrative divisions

The major administrative divisions in South Korea are eight provinces, one special self-governing province, six metropolitan cities ( autonomous cities that are not part of any province ), one special city and one special self-governing city .
a revised Romanisation ; b See Names of Seoul ; deoxycytidine monophosphate May As of 2018. [ 167 ]

Demographics

Population pyramid of South Korea in 2016
Population[168][169]

Year

Million

1950
19.2

2000
47.3

2018
51.2

In April 2016, South Korea ‘s population was estimated to be around 50.8 million by National Statistical Office, with continue refuse of working age population and sum fertility rate. [ 170 ] [ 171 ] The nation is noted for its population density, which was an estimate 505 per square kilometer in 2015, [ 170 ] more than 10 times the ball-shaped average. Aside from micro-states and city-states, South Korea is the worldly concern ‘s third gear most densely-populated country. [ 172 ] In practice the population concentration in much of South Korea is higher than the home one, as most of the nation ‘s nation is uninhabitable due to being used for other purposes such as farming. [ 172 ] Most South Koreans live in urban areas, because of rapid migration from the countryside during the area ‘s quick economic expansion in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. [ 173 ] The capital city of Seoul is besides the state ‘s largest city and foreman industrial center. According to the 2005 census, Seoul had a population of 10 million inhabitants. The Seoul National Capital Area has 24.5 million inhabitants ( about half of South Korea ‘s entire population ) making it the world ‘s second largest metropolitan area. early major cities include Busan ( 3.5 million ), Incheon ( 3.0 million ), Daegu ( 2.5 million ), Daejeon ( 1.4 million ), Gwangju ( 1.4 million ) and Ulsan ( 1.1 million ). [ 174 ]
Koreans in traditional dress The population has besides been shaped by external migration. After World War II and the division of the Korean Peninsula, about four million people from North Korea crossed the boundary line to South Korea. This drift of final submission reversed over the adjacent 40 years because of emigration, specially to North America through the United States and Canada. South Korea ‘s full population in 1955 was 21.5 million, [ 175 ] and has more than doubled, to 50 million, by 2010. [ 176 ] South Korea is considered one of the most ethnically homogeneous societies in the universe with cultural Koreans representing approximately 96 % of total population. accurate numbers are unmanageable since statistics do not record ethnicity and given many immigrants are ethnically korean themselves, and some south korean citizens are not ethnically korean. [ 177 ] The share of foreign nationals has been growing quickly. [ 178 ] As of 2016, South Korea had 1,413,758 alien residents, 2.75 % of the population ; [ 177 ] however, many of them are heathen Koreans with a foreign citizenship. For exemplar, migrants from China ( PRC ) make up 56.5 % of foreign nationals, but approximately 70 % of the taiwanese citizens in Korea are Joseonjok ( 조선족 ), PRC citizens of korean ethnicity. [ 179 ] Regardless of the ethnicity, there are 28,500 US military personnel serving in South Korea, most serving a annual unaccompanied enlistment ( though approximately 10 % service longer tours accompanied by syndicate ), according to the Korea National Statistical Office. [ 180 ] [ 181 ] In addition, about 43,000 english teachers from english-speaking countries reside temporarily in Korea. [ 182 ] presently, South Korea has one of the highest rates of emergence of foreign natural population, with about 30,000 extraneous behave residents obtaining south korean citizenship every year since 2010. large numbers of ethnic Koreans live abroad, sometimes in Korean ethnic neighbourhoods besides known as Koreatowns. The four largest diaspora population can be found in China ( 2.3 million ), the United States ( 1.8 million ), Japan ( 0.85 million ), and Canada ( 0.25 million ). South Korea ‘s birth pace was the global ‘s lowest in 2009, [ 183 ] at an annual pace of approximately 9 births per 1000 people. [ 184 ] Fertility saw some modest increase afterwards, [ 185 ] but dropped to a modern ball-shaped gloomy in 2017, [ 186 ] with fewer than 30,000 births per calendar month for the first time since records began [ 187 ] and less than 1 child per womanhood in 2018. [ 188 ] The median life anticipation in 2008 was 79.10 years, [ 189 ] ( which was 34th in the world [ 190 ] ) but by 2015 it had increased to around 81. [ 191 ] South Korea has the steepest decline in working age population of the OECD nations. [ 192 ] In 2015, National Statistical Office estimated that the population of the country will have reached its top out by 2035. [ 170 ] [ 171 ]

education

A centralized administration in South Korea oversees the process for the education of children from kindergarten to the third and final examination year of high school. The school year is divided into two semesters, the foremost of which begins at the beginning of March and ends in mid-july, the second of which begins in late August and ends in mid-february. The schedules are not uniformly standardized and vary from school to school. Most south korean center schools and high schools have school uniforms, modeled on western-style uniforms. Boys ‘ uniforms normally consist of trousers and white shirts, and girls wear skirts and blank shirts ( this only applies in in-between schools and high gear schools ). The country adopted a modern educational program to increase the phone number of their foreign students through 2010. According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the number of scholarships for foreign students in South Korea would have ( under the program ) doubled by that prison term, and the count of extraneous students would have reached 100,000. [ 194 ] South Korea is one of the top-performing OECD countries in reading literacy, mathematics and sciences with the average scholar scoring 519, compared with the OECD average of 492, placing it one-ninth in the earth. The state has one of the earth ‘s highest-educated labor forces among OECD countries. [ 195 ] [ 196 ] [ 197 ] [ 198 ] [ 199 ] [ 200 ] [ excessive citations ] The country is well known for its highly febrile expectation on department of education, where its national obsession with education has been called “ education fever ”. [ 201 ] [ 202 ] [ 203 ] This obsession with education has catapulted the resource-poor state systematically atop the ball-shaped education rankings. In 2014, South Korea ranked second cosmopolitan ( after Singapore ) in the national rankings of students ‘ mathematics and science scores by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ). [ 204 ] Higher education is a serious issue in south korean club, where it is viewed as one of the fundamental cornerstones of south korean life. education is regarded with a high priority for south korean families, as achiever in education is much a source of pride for families and within south korean society at large, and is a necessity to improve one ‘s socioeconomic position in south korean society. [ 205 ] [ 206 ] South Koreans view education as the main propeller of social mobility for themselves and their family, as a gateway to the south korean middle class. Graduating from a top university is the ultimate marker of prestige, high socioeconomic condition, promising marriage prospects, and a goodly career path. [ 207 ] The entrance into a top-tier higher educational institution leads to a esteemed, fasten and well-paid blank collar job with the government, banks, or a major south korean conglomerate such as Samsung, Hyundai or LG Electronics. [ 208 ] With incredible pressure on high school students to secure places at the nation ‘s best universities, its institutional reputation and alumni networks are strong predictors of future career prospects. The top three universities in South Korea, often referred to as “ SKY ”, are Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University. [ 209 ] [ 210 ] An average south korean scholar ‘s life revolves around department of education, with intense competition for top grades, pressure to succeed academically and being the crown scholar profoundly ingrained in the psyche of south korean students at a unseasoned age. [ 210 ] yet with lone so many places at the nation ‘s most prestigious universities and evening fewer places at top-tier companies, many young people remain defeated and are much unwilling to lower their sights with the consequence of many feel as though they are underachievers. There is a major cultural taboo in south korean club attached to those who have not achieved conventional university education, where those who do not hold university degrees face sociable prejudice and are frequently looked down by others as second-class citizens. This much results in fewer opportunities for employment, improvement of one ‘s socioeconomic position and prospects for marriage. [ 211 ] [ 212 ]
In 2015, the country spent 5.1 % of its GDP on all levels of education – roughly 0.8 percentage points above the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) average of 4.3 %. [ 213 ] A strong investment in education, a competitive drive for success, adenine well as the rage for excellence has helped the resource-poor country quickly grow its economy over the past 60 years from a war-torn barren to a booming first-world nation. [ 214 ] International opinion regarding the south korean education system has been divided. It has been praised for respective reasons, including its relatively high test results and its major character in generating South Korea ‘s economic development, creating one of the worldly concern ‘s most educated workforces. [ 215 ] South Korea ‘s highly enviable academic performance has persuaded british education ministers to actively remodel their own curriculums and exams to try to emulate Korea ‘s belligerent drive and heat for excellence and high educational accomplishment. [ 215 ] Former U.S. President Barack Obama has besides praised the country ‘s rigorous educate system, where over 80 percentage of south korean high educate graduates go on to university. [ 216 ] The nation ‘s high university entrance rate has created a highly skilled work force, making South Korea among the most highly educate countries in the earth with one of the highest percentages of its citizens holding a third education degree. [ 217 ] In 2017, the area ranked fifth for the percentage of 25 to 64 year old ‘s that have attained third education with 47.7 percentage. [ 217 ] In addition, 69.8 percentage of South Koreans aged 25–34 have completed some form of third education qualification, and bachelor ‘s degrees are held by 34.2 percentage of South Koreans aged 25–64, the most in the OECD. [ 213 ] [ 217 ] The system ‘s rigid and hierarchical structure has been criticized for stifling creativity and invention ; [ 218 ] [ 219 ] described as intensely and “ viciously ” competitive, [ 220 ] the system is often blamed for the high suicide rate in the nation, particularly the growing rates among those aged 10–19. assorted media outlets attribute the country ‘s high suicide rate to the countrywide anxiety around the state ‘s college capture exams, which determine the trajectory of students ‘ integral lives and careers. [ 221 ] [ 222 ] Former South Korean hagwon teacher Se-Woong Koo wrote that the south korean department of education system amounts to child maltreatment and that it should be “ reformed and restructured without delay ”. [ 223 ] The system has besides been criticized for producing an surfeit supply of university graduates creating an overeducated and underemployed labor force ; in the first stern of 2013 alone, about 3.3 million south korean university graduates were idle, leaving many graduates overqualified for jobs requiring less education. [ 224 ] Further criticism has been stemmed for causing labor shortages in respective skilled blue apprehension labor and vocational occupations, where many go unfilled as the negative social stigma associated with vocational careers and not having a university degree continues to remain deep-rooted in south korean society. [ 212 ] [ 225 ] [ 226 ] [ 227 ] [ 228 ] [ 229 ] [ 230 ] [ 231 ] [ excessive citations ]

terminology

Dialects of the korean language Korean is the official lyric of South Korea, and is classified by most linguists as a language sequester. It incorporates a significant number of loanword words from Chinese. korean uses an autochthonal write system called Hangul, created in 1446 by King Sejong, to provide a convenient alternative to the Classical Chinese Hanja characters that were unmanageable to learn and did not fit the korean terminology well. South Korea still uses some chinese Hanja characters in limited areas, such as photographic print media and legal documentation. The korean language in South Korea has a criterion dialect known as the Seoul dialect ( after the capital city ), with an extra four dialects ( Chungcheong, Gangwon, Gyeongsang, and Jella ) and one lyric ( Jeju ) in function around the country. about all south korean students today learn English throughout their department of education, with some optionally choosing japanese or Mandarin angstrom well. [ 232 ]

religion

According to the results of the census of 2015, more than half of the south korean population ( 56.1 % ) declared themselves not affiliated with any religious organizations. [ 233 ] In a 2012 surveil, 52 % declared themselves “ religious ”, 31 % said they were “ not religious ” and 15 % identify themselves as “ convinced atheists “. [ 234 ] Of the people who are affiliated with a religious administration, most are Christians and Buddhists. According to the 2015 census, 27.6 % of the population were Christians ( 19.7 % identify themselves as Protestants, 7.9 % as Roman Catholics ) and 15.5 % were Buddhists. [ 233 ] other religions include Islam ( 130,000 Muslims, largely migrant workers from Pakistan and Bangladesh but including some 35,000 korean Muslims [ 235 ] ), the homegrown faction of Won Buddhism, and a variety of autochthonal religions, including Cheondoism ( a Confucianizing religion ), Jeungsanism, Daejongism, Daesun Jinrihoe, and others. exemption of religion is guaranteed by the constitution, and there is no state religion. [ 236 ] Overall, between the 2005 and 2015 censuses, there has been a slender descent of Christianity ( down from 29 % to 27.6 % ), a shrill decline of Buddhism ( down from 22.8 % to 15.5 % ), and a ascend of the unaffiliated population ( from 47.2 % to 56.9 % ). [ 233 ] christendom is South Korea ‘s largest organized religion, accounting for more than half of all south korean adherents of religious organizations. There are approximately 13.5 million Christians in South Korea today ; about two thirds of them belonging to Protestant churches, and the rest to the Catholic Church. [ 233 ] The number of Protestants has been stagnant throughout the 1990s and the 2000s, but increased to a acme grade throughout the 2010s. roman Catholics increased importantly between the 1980s and the 2000s, but declined throughout the 2010s. [ 233 ] Christianity, unlike in early East asian countries, found prolific grind in Korea in the eighteenth century, and by the end of the eighteenth hundred it persuaded a large partially of the population, as the declining monarchy supported it and opened the nation to far-flung proselytism as part of a plan of Westernization. The failing of Korean Sindo, which – unlike japanese Shinto and China ‘s religious system – never developed into a national religion of high status, [ 237 ] combined with the destitute submit of korean Buddhism, ( after 500 years of suppression at the hands of the Joseon department of state, by the twentieth hundred it was virtually extinct ) left a free hand to Christian churches. Christianity ‘s similarity to native religious narratives has been studied as another factor that contributed to its achiever in the peninsula. [ 238 ] The japanese colonization of the beginning half of the twentieth century further strengthened the designation of Christianity with Korean nationalism, as the Japanese coopted native korean Sindo into the Nipponic Imperial Shinto that they tried to establish in the peninsula. [ 239 ] widespread christianization of the Koreans took space during State Shinto, [ 239 ] after its abolition, and then in the mugwump South Korea as the newly established military government supported Christianity and tried to absolutely oust native Sindo .
Among christian denominations, Presbyterianism is the largest. About nine million people belong to to one of the hundred different presbyterian churches ; the biggest ones are the HapDong Presbyterian Church, TongHap Presbyterian Church and the Koshin Presbyterian Church. South Korea is besides the second-largest missionary-sending nation, after the United States. [ 240 ] buddhism was introduced to Korea in the fourth century. [ 241 ] It soon became a prevailing religion in the southeast kingdom of Silla, the region that so far hosts the strongest concentration of Buddhists in South Korea. In the other states of the Three Kingdoms Period, Goguryeo and Baekje, it was made the state religion respectively in 372 and 528. It remained the state religion in Later Silla ( North South States Period ) and Goryeo. It was by and by suppressed throughout much of the subsequent history under the unite kingdom of Joseon ( 1392–1897 ), which formally adopted a stern korean Confucianism. today, South Korea has about 7 million Buddhists, [ 233 ] most of them affiliated to the Jogye Order. Most of the National Treasures of South Korea are Buddhist artifacts .

Health

South Korea has a universal healthcare system. [ 242 ] It has the universe ‘s second best healthcare system. [ 243 ] Suicide in South Korea is the tenth highest in the worldly concern according to the World Health Organization, arsenic well as the highest suicide rate in the OECD. [ 244 ] [ 245 ] south korean hospitals have advanced medical equipment and facilities readily available, ranking 4th for MRI units per head and 6th for CT scanners per head in the OECD. [ 246 ] It besides had the OECD ‘s second largest count of hospital beds per 1000 people at 9.56 beds. Life anticipation has been rising quickly and South Korea ranked 11th in the world for life anticipation at 82.3 years by the WHO in 2015. [ 247 ] It besides has the third base highest health adjusted life anticipation in the worldly concern. [ 248 ]

foreign relations

South Korea maintains diplomatic relations with more than 188 countries. The area has besides been a extremity of the United Nations since 1991, when it became a extremity state at the same time as North Korea. On 1 January 2007, former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon served as UN Secretary-General from 2007 to 2016. It has besides 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 ). In November 2009, South Korea joined the OECD Development Assistance Committee, marking the first clock time a former help recipient role area joined the group as a donor extremity. South Korea hosted the G-20 Summit in Seoul in November 2010, a year that saw South Korea and the European Union conclude a spare trade agreement ( FTA ) to reduce craft barriers. South Korea went on to sign a free Trade Agreement with Canada and Australia in 2014, and another with New Zealand in 2015 .

North Korea

Both North and South Korea claim dispatch sovereignty over the entire peninsula and outlying islands. [ 249 ] Despite reciprocal animosity, reconciliation efforts have continued since the initial separation between North and South Korea. political figures such as Kim Koo worked to reconcile the two governments even after the Korean War. [ 250 ] With longstanding animosity following the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, North Korea and South Korea signed an agreement to pursue peace. [ 251 ] On 4 October 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 aim services, highway and air travel, and a joint Olympic cheering squad. [ 251 ]
Despite the Sunshine Policy and efforts at reconciliation, the advance was complicated by north korean projectile tests in 1993, 1998, 2006, 2009, and 2013. By early 2009, relationships between North and South Korea were very tense ; North Korea had been reported to have deployed missiles, [ 252 ] ended its former agreements with South Korea, [ 253 ] and threatened South Korea and the United States not to interfere with a satellite launching it had planned. [ 254 ] North and South Korea are still technically at war ( having never signed a peace treaty after the Korean War ) and parcel the earth ‘s most heavily fortified bound. [ 255 ] On 27 May 2009, north korean media declared that the Armistice is no long valid because of the south korean government ‘s pledge to “ decidedly articulation ” the Proliferation Security Initiative. [ 256 ] To foster complicate and intensify strains between the two nations, the sink of the south korean warship Cheonan in March 2010 was affirmed by the south korean government [ 257 ] to have been caused by a north korean torpedo, which the North denies. President Lee Myung-bak declared in May 2010 that Seoul would cut all trade with North Korea as share of measures primarily aimed at striking back at North Korea diplomatically and financially, except for the joint Kaesong Industrial Project and humanist aid. [ 258 ] North Korea initially threatened to sever all ties, to completely abrogate the former treaty of non-aggression, and to expel all South Koreans from a joint industrial zone in Kaesong, but backtracked on its threats and decided to continue its ties with South Korea. Despite the continuing ties, the Kaesong Industrial Region has seen a large decrease in investment and work force as a consequence of this military conflict. In February 2016, the Kaesong complex was closed by Seoul in reaction to North Korea ‘s launch of a rocket earlier in the month, [ 259 ] which was unanimously condemned by the United Nations Security Council. [ 260 ] The 2017 election of President Moon Jae-in has seen a change in overture towards the North, and both sides used the South Korean-held 2018 Winter Olympics as an opportunity for engagement, [ 261 ] with a very elder union korean political delegating sent to the games, along with a multiplicative inverse visit by senior south korean cabinet members to the North soon afterwards. [ 262 ]

China and Russia

historically, Korea had close relations with the dynasties in China, and some korean kingdoms were members of the Imperial Chinese tributary system. [ 263 ] [ 264 ] [ 265 ] [ 266 ] [ excessive citations ] The Korean kingdoms besides ruled over some chinese kingdoms including the Khitan people and the Manchurians before the Qing dynasty and received tributes from them. [ 267 ] In mod times, 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 airless relations with the United States. The PRC assisted North Korea with work force and supplies during the Korean War, and in its consequence the diplomatic relationship between South Korea and the PRC about completely discontinue. Relations thawed gradually and South Korea and the PRC re-established formal diplomatic relations on 24 August 1992. The two countries sought to improve bilateral relations and lifted the forty-year-old trade embargo, [ 268 ] and South Korean–Chinese relations have improved steadily since 1992. [ 268 ] The Republic of Korea broke off official relations with the Republic of China ( Taiwan ) upon gaining official relations with the People ‘s Republic of China, which does not recognize Taiwan ‘s sovereignty. [ 269 ]
China has become South Korea ‘s largest trade collaborator by far, sending 26 % of south korean exports in 2016 worth $ 124 billion, vitamin a well as an extra $ 32 billion worth of exports to Hong Kong. [ 270 ] South Korea is besides China ‘s 4th largest trade partner, with $ 93 billion of chinese imports in 2016. [ 271 ] The 2017 deployment of THAAD defense missiles by the United States military in South Korea in response to north korean missile tests has been protested strongly by the chinese government, concerned that the technologically advance projectile defense could be used more broadly against China. [ 272 ] Relations between the governments have cooled in reaction, with south korean commercial and cultural interests in China having been targeted, and chinese tourism to South Korea having been curtailed. [ 273 ] The site was largely resolved by South Korea making significant military concessions to China in rally for THAAD, including not deploying any more anti-ballistic missile systems in South Korea and not participating in an alliance between the United States and Japan. [ 274 ] South Korea and Russia are participants in the Six-party talks on the North Korea ‘s nuclear proliferation issue. Moon Jae-in ‘s government has focused on increasing South Korea ‘s consumption of natural gasoline. These plans include re-opening dialogue around a natural gas grapevine that would come from Russia and pass through North Korea. [ 275 ] In June 2018, president Moon Jae-in became the first base south korean leader to speak in the russian Parliament. [ 276 ] On 22 June, Moon Jae-in and Putin signed a document for foundation garment of exempt trade area. [ 277 ]

Japan

Korea and Japan have had difficult relations since ancient times, but besides meaning cultural exchange, with Korea acting as the gateway between Asia and Japan. contemporaneous perceptions of Japan are hush largely defined by Japan ‘s 35 year colonization of Korea in the twentieth century, which is generally regarded in South Korea as having been identical negative. Japan is today South Korea ‘s third base largest trade partner, with 12 % ( $ 46 billion ) of exports in 2016. [ 270 ] There were no formal diplomatic ties between South Korea and Japan directly after independence the end of World War II in 1945. South Korea and Japan finally 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 because of a number of unsettled Japanese-Korean disputes, many of which stem from the menstruation of japanese occupation after the japanese annexation of Korea. During World War II, more than 100,000 Koreans served in the Imperial japanese Army. [ 278 ] [ 279 ] korean women were coerced and forced to serve the Imperial japanese Army as intimate slaves, called ease women, in both Korea and throughout the japanese war fronts. [ 280 ] [ 281 ] [ 282 ] [ 283 ] [ excessive citations ] Longstanding issues such as japanese war crimes against korean civilians, the negationist re-writing of japanese textbooks relating japanese atrocities during World War II, the territorial disputes over the Liancourt Rocks, known in South Korea as “ Dokdo ” and in Japan as “ Takeshima ”, [ 284 ] and visits by japanese politicians to the Yasukuni Shrine, honoring japanese people ( civilians and military ) killed during the war continue to trouble Korean-Japanese relations. The Liancourt Rocks were the first korean territories to be forcibly colonized by Japan in 1905. Although it was again returned to Korea along with the remainder of its district in 1951 with the sign of the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan does not recant on its claims that the Liancourt Rocks are japanese territory. [ 285 ] In reply to then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ‘s visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, former President Roh Moo-hyun suspended all summit talks between South Korea and Japan in 2009. [ 286 ] A summit between the nations ‘ leaders was finally held on 9 February 2018 during the korean held Winter Olympics. [ 287 ] South Korea asked the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) to ban the japanese Rising Sun Flag from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, [ 288 ] [ 289 ] and the IOC said in a instruction “ sports stadiums should be free of any political demonstration. When concerns arise at games time we look at them on a individual basis. ” [ 290 ]

European Union

The European Union ( EU ) and South Korea are important trade partners, having negotiated a release deal agreement for many years since South Korea was designated as a priority FTA spouse in 2006. The spare trade agreement was approved in September 2010, and took effect on 1 July 2011. [ 291 ] South Korea is the EU ‘s one-tenth largest craft partner, and the EU has become South Korea ‘s fourth largest export finish. EU trade wind with South Korea exceeded €90 billion in 2015 and has enjoyed an annual median growth rate of 9.8 % between 2003 and 2013. [ 292 ] The EU has been the single largest extraneous investor in South Korea since 1962, and accounted for about 45 % of all FDI inflows into Korea in 2006. Nevertheless, EU companies have meaning problems accessing and operating in the south korean market because of rigorous standards and testing requirements for products and services much creating barriers to trade. Both in its regular bilateral contacts with South Korea and through its FTA with Korea, the EU is seeking to improve this site. [ 292 ]

United States

The close relationship began directly after World War II, when the United States temporarily administrated Korea for three years ( chiefly in the South, with the Soviet Union engaged in North Korea ) after Japan. Upon the onset of the Korean War in 1950, U.S. forces were sent to defend against an invasion from North Korea of the South, and subsequently fought as the largest subscriber of UN troops. The United States engagement was critical for preventing the cheeseparing frustration of the Republic of Korea by northerly forces, adenine well as fighting back for the territory gains that define the south korean nation today. Following the Armistice, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to a “ common Defense Treaty ”, under which an attack on either party in the Pacific sphere would summon a reply from both. [ 293 ] In 1967, South Korea obliged the reciprocal refutation treaty, by sending a large combat troop contingent to support the United States in the Vietnam War. The US has over 23,000 troops stationed in South Korea, including the U.S. Eighth Army, Seventh Air Force, and U.S. naval Forces Korea. The two nations have potent economic, diplomatic, and military ties, although they have at times disagreed with regard to policies towards North Korea, and with regard to some of South Korea ‘s industrial activities that involve custom of skyrocket or nuclear technology. There had besides been strong anti-american opinion during certain periods, which has largely moderated in the modern day. [ 294 ] The two nations besides plowshare a close economic relationship, with the U.S being South Korea ‘s second largest trade partner, receiving $ 66 billion in exports in 2016. [ 270 ] In 2007, a release craft agreement known as the Republic of Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement ( KORUS FTA ) was signed between South Korea and the United States, but its conventional implementation was repeatedly delayed, pending blessing by the legislative bodies of the two countries. On 12 October 2011, the U.S. Congress passed the long-stalled trade wind agreement with South Korea. [ 295 ] It went into effect on 15 March 2012. [ 296 ]

military

Unresolved tension with North Korea has prompted South Korea to allocate 2.6 % of its GDP and 15 % of all politics spend to its military ( Government share of GDP : 14.967 % ), while maintaining compulsory conscription for men. [ 297 ] Consequently, South Korea has the world ‘s seventh largest number of active troops ( 599,000 in 2018 ), the populace ‘s highest number of reserve troops ( 3,100,000 in 2018 ) [ 298 ] and the one-tenth largest defense budget. As of 2019 South Korea has a defense budget of $ 43.1 billion. The south korean military is ranked as the 6th most powerful military force in the worldly concern as of 2020. [ 299 ] The south korean military consists of the Army ( ROKA ), the Navy ( ROKN ), the Air Force ( ROKAF ), and the Marine Corps ( ROKMC ), and reserve forces. [ 300 ] Many of these forces are concentrated near the Korean Demilitarized Zone. All south korean males are constitutionally required to serve in the military, typically 18 months. previous exceptions for south korean citizens of shuffle race nobelium long apply since 2011. [ 301 ]
In addition to male conscription in South Korea ‘s sovereign military, 1,800 korean males are selected every year to serve 18 months in the KATUSA Program to further augment the United States Forces Korea ( USFK ). [ 302 ] In 2010, South Korea was spending ₩ 1.68 trillion in a cost-sharing agreement with the US to provide budgetary back to the US forces in Korea, on circus tent of 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 anchor of the south korean army ‘s mechanize armor and infantry forces. A ample armory of many artillery systems, including 1,700 automotive K55 and K9 Thunder howitzers and 680 helicopters and UAVs of numerous types, are assembled to provide extra fire, reconnaissance, and logistics support. South Korea ‘s smaller but more advanced artillery force and broad range of airborne reconnaissance platforms are pivotal in the counter-battery suppression of North Korea ‘s big artillery military unit, which operates more than 13,000 artillery systems deployed in assorted country of fortification and mobility. [ 303 ] The south korean united states navy has made its first major transformation into a blue-water dark blue through the formation of the Strategic Mobile Fleet, which includes a conflict 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 arrangement that allows the ships to track and destroy multiple cruise missiles and ballistic missiles simultaneously, forming an built-in character of South Korea ‘s autochthonal missile department of defense umbrella against the north korean military ‘s projectile terror. [ 304 ] The south korean air force operates 840 aircraft, making it worldly concern ‘s ninth largest air violence, including respective types of advanced fighters like F-15K, heavily modified KF-16C/D, [ 305 ] and the autochthonal T-50 Golden Eagle, [ 306 ] [ 307 ] supported by well-maintained fleets of older fighters such as F-4E and KF-5E/F that hush effectively serve the air out force alongside the more modern aircraft. In an undertake to gain lastingness in terms of not equitable numbers but besides modernity, the commission of four Boeing 737 AEW & C aircraft, under Project Peace Eye for centralized intelligence gain and psychoanalysis on a modern battlefield, will enhance the fighters ‘ and other support aircraft ‘s ability to perform their missions with awareness and preciseness. In May 2011, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., South Korea ‘s largest plane maker, signed a $ 400 million deal to sell 16 T-50 Golden Eagle flight simulator jets to Indonesia, making South Korea the inaugural country in Asia to export supersonic jets. [ 308 ]
From time to clock, South Korea has sent its troops abroad 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 aboard American, Australian, Filipino, New Zealand and South vietnamese soldiers in the Vietnam War, with a extremum lastingness of 50,000. [ 309 ] In 2004, South Korea sent 3,300 troops of the Zaytun Division to help re-building in northern Iraq, and was the third largest subscriber in the coalition forces after only the US and Britain. [ 310 ] Beginning in 2001, South Korea had so far deploy 24,000 troops in the Middle East area to support the War on Terrorism. A far 1,800 were deployed since 2007 to reinforce UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon .

United States contingent

The United States has stationed a solid contingent of troops to defend South Korea. There are approximately 28,500 U.S. military personnel stationed in South Korea, [ 311 ] most of them serving one class unaccompanied tours. The U.S. troops, which are primarily ground and tune units, are assigned to USFK and chiefly assigned to the Eighth United States Army of the U.S. Army and Seventh Air Force of the U.S. Air Force. They are stationed in installations at Osan, Kunsan, Yongsan, Dongducheon, Sungbuk, Camp Humphreys, and Daegu, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as at Camp Bonifas in the DMZ Joint Security Area. A in full officiate UN Command is at the lead of the chain of command of all forces in South Korea, including the U.S. forces and the stallion South Korean military – if a sudden escalation of war between North and South Korea were to occur the United States would assume see of the south korean armed forces in all military and paramilitary moves. There has been long-run agreement between the United States and South Korea that South Korea should finally assume the leave for its own refutation. This transition to a south korean command has been slowly and often postponed, although it is presently scheduled to occur in the early 2020s. [ 312 ]

conscientious objection

male citizens who refuse or reject to undertake military services because of conscientious protest are typically imprisoned, with over 600 individuals normally imprisoned at any given time ; more than the respite of the world put together. [ 313 ] The huge majority of these are young men from the Jehovah ‘s Witnesses Christian appellation. [ 314 ] See Conscription in South Korea. however, in a court predominate of 2018, conscientious objectors were permitted to reject military service. [ 315 ]

economy

Share of world GDP (PPP)[316]

Year

1980
0.63%

1990
1.18%

2000

1.55%

2010

1.65%

2017
1.60%

South Korea ‘s shuffle economy [ 317 ] [ 318 ] [ 319 ] ranks 10th nominative [ 320 ] and 13th purchasing ability parity bit GDP in the universe, identifying it as one of the G-20 major economies. It is a develop state with a high-income economy and is the most industrialize extremity country of the OECD. south korean brands such as LG Electronics and Samsung are internationally celebrated and garnered South Korea ‘s reputation for its quality electronics and early manufactured goods. [ 321 ] Its massive investment in education has taken the area from bulk illiteracy to a major international technical powerhouse. The country ‘s national economy benefits from a highly skilled work force and is among the most educated countries in the worldly concern with one of the highest percentages of its citizens holding a third education degree. [ 322 ] South Korea ‘s economy was one of the world ‘s fastest-growing from the early 1960s to the late 1990s, and was still one of the fastest-growing grow countries in the 2000s, along with Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, the early three asian Tigers. [ 323 ] It recorded the fastest ascent in median GDP per head in the world between 1980 and 1990. [ 324 ] South Koreans refer to this growth as the Miracle on the Han River. [ 325 ] The south korean economy is heavily dependent on international trade, and in 2014, South Korea was the fifth-largest exporter and seventh-largest importer in the universe. Despite the south korean economy ‘s high growth potential and apparent structural constancy, the state suffers price to its recognition rating in the store market because of the aggressiveness of North Korea in times of deep military crises, which has an adverse effect on south korean fiscal markets. [ 326 ] [ 327 ] The International Monetary Fund compliments the resilience of the south korean economy against versatile economic crises, citing low country debt and high fiscal reserves that can quickly be mobilized to address fiscal emergencies. [ 328 ] Although it was hard harmed by the 1997 asian fiscal crisis, the south korean economy managed a rapid recovery and subsequently tripled its GDP. [ 329 ] furthermore, South Korea was one of the few modernize countries that were able to avoid a recession during the global fiscal crisis. [ 330 ] Its economic growth pace reached 6.2 percentage in 2010 ( the fastest growth for eight years after significant emergence by 7.2 percentage in 2002 ), [ 331 ] a sharply recovery from economic growth rates of 2.3 % in 2008 and 0.2 % in 2009 during the Great Recession. The unemployment rate in South Korea besides remained moo in 2009, at 3.6 %. [ 332 ] South Korea became a penis of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) in 1996. [ 333 ] The trace list includes the largest south korean companies by gross in 2017 who are all listed as part of the Fortune Global 500 :

transportation, energy and infrastructure

South Korea has a technologically promote transport network consisting of high-speed railways, highways, bus topology routes, ferry services, and air routes that crisscross the nation. Korea Expressway Corporation operates the toll highways and service amenities en route. Korail provides patronize caravan services to all major south korean cities. Two rail lines, Gyeongui and Donghae Bukbu Line, to North Korea are now being reconnected. The korean high-speed rail system, KTX, provides high-speed service along Gyeongbu and Honam Line. major cities including Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon and Gwangju have urban rapid transit systems. [ 335 ] Express bus topology terminals are available in most cities. [ 336 ] South Korea ‘s independent gateway and largest airport is Incheon International Airport, serving 58 million passengers in 2016. [ 337 ] early international airports include Gimpo, Busan and Jeju. There are besides many airports that were built as part of the infrastructure boom but are scantily used. [ 338 ] There are besides many heliports. [ 339 ] The national carrier, Korean Air served over 26,800,000 passengers, including about 19,000,000 international passengers in 2016. [ 340 ] A irregular carrier, Asiana Airlines besides serves domestic and international dealings. Combined, south korean airlines serve 297 external routes. [ 341 ] Smaller airlines, such as Jeju Air, provide domestic service with lower fares. [ 342 ] South Korea is the world ‘s fifth-largest nuclear power producer and the second-largest in Asia as of 2010. [ 343 ] Nuclear baron in South Korea supplies 45 % of electricity production, and research is very active with investigation into a diverseness of advance reactors, including a humble modular reactor, a liquid-metal fast/ transmutation reactor and a high-temperature hydrogen generation design. Fuel production and waste handling technologies have besides been developed locally. It is besides a member of the ITER project. [ 344 ] South Korea is an emerging exporter of nuclear reactors, having concluded agreements with the UAE to build and maintain four advance nuclear reactors, [ 345 ] with Jordan for a research nuclear nuclear reactor, [ 346 ] [ 347 ] and with Argentina for construction and repair of heavy-water nuclear reactors. [ 348 ] [ 349 ] As of 2010, South Korea and Turkey are in negotiations regarding construction of two nuclear reactors. [ 350 ] South Korea is besides preparing to bid on construction of a light-water nuclear nuclear reactor for Argentina. [ 349 ] South Korea is not allowed to enrich uranium or develop traditional uranium enrichment technology on its own, because of US political pressure, [ 351 ] unlike most major nuclear powers such as Japan, Germany, and France, competitors of South Korea in the international nuclear commercialize. This obstruction to South Korea ‘s autochthonal nuclear industrial contract has sparked casual diplomatic rows between the two allies. While South Korea is successful in exporting its electricity-generating nuclear technology and nuclear reactors, it can not capitalize on the market for nuclear enrichment facilities and refineries, preventing it from further expanding its export niche. South Korea has sought singular technologies such as pyroprocessing to circumvent these obstacles and seek a more advantageous rival. [ 352 ] The US has recently been wary of South Korea ‘s burgeoning nuclear program, which South Korea insists will be for civilian manipulation only. [ 343 ] South Korea is the third highest rank asian country in the World Economic Forum ‘s Network Readiness Index ( NRI ) after Singapore and Hong Kong respectively – an indicator for determining the exploitation level of a country ‘s data and communication technologies. South Korea ranked number 10 overall in the 2014 NRI rank, up from 11 in 2013. [ 353 ]

tourism

In 2016, 17 million alien tourists visited South Korea [ 354 ] [ 355 ] With rising tourist prospects, particularly from foreign countries outside of Asia, the south korean government has set a target of attracting 20 million foreign tourists a year by 2017. [ 356 ] south korean tourism is driven by many factors, including the prominence of Korean pop culture such as confederacy korean pop music and television drama, known as the korean Wave or ( Hallyu ), has gained popularity throughout East Asia. The Hyundai Research Institute reported that the Korean Wave has a lead impingement in encouraging address foreign investment back into the country through demand for products, and the tourism industry. [ 357 ] Among East asian countries, China was the most receptive, investing 1.4 billion in South Korea, with much of the investment within its service sector, a sevenfold increase from 2001. According to an analysis by economist Han Sang-Wan, a 1 percentage increase in the exports of korean cultural content pushes consumer goods exports up 0.083 percentage while a 1 percentage increase in korean pop content exports to a area produces a 0.019 percentage bump in tourism. [ 357 ]

south korean National Pension System

The south korean pension system was created to provide benefits to persons reaching old age, families and persons stricken with death of their basal breadwinner, and for the purposes of stabilizing its nations social welfare state. [ 358 ] South Korea ‘s pension organization structure is chiefly based on tax income and is income-related. In 2007 there was a total of 18,367,000 see individuals with lone around 511,000 persons excluded from mandate contribution. [ 359 ] The current pension system is divided into four categories distributing benefits to participants through national, military personnel, governmental, and secret school teacher pension schemes. [ 360 ] The national pension system is the primary coil social welfare arrangement providing allowances to the majority of persons. eligibility for the national pension scheme is not dependent on income but on historic period and residency, where those between the ages of 18 to 59 are covered. [ 361 ] Any one who is under the age of 18 are dependents of person who is covered or under a special exclusion where they are allowed to alternative provisions. [ 362 ] The national pension system is divided into four categories of insured persons – the workplace-based insured, the individually cover, the voluntarily insured, and the voluntarily and endlessly cover. Employees between the ages of 18 to 59 are covered under the workplace-based pension scheme and contribute 4.5 % of their gross monthly earnings. [ 358 ] The national pension covers employees who work in firms that employ five or more employees, fishermen, farmers, and the freelance in both rural and urban areas. Employers are besides covered under the workplace-based pension scheme and help cover their employees obligated 9 % contribution by providing the remaining 4.5 %. [ 362 ] Anyone who is not employed, of the age of 60 or above, and excluded by article 6 of the National Pension Act [ 363 ] but of the ages between 18 and 59, is covered under the individually cover pension outline. [ 363 ] Persons covered by the individually see pension system are in charge of paying the entire 9 % contribution themselves. voluntarily insured persons are not subjected to mandatary coverage but can choose to be. This class comprises retirees who voluntarily choose to have extra benefits, individuals under the age of 27 without income, and individuals whose spouses are covered under a public social welfare system, whether military, governmental, or private school teacher pensions. [ 361 ] Like the Individually guarantee persons, they besides are in charge of covering the wide sum of the contribution. voluntarily and endlessly insured persons consists of individuals 60 years of age who want to fulfill the minimum cover period of 20 years to qualify for old age pension benefits. [ 363 ] Excluding the workplace-based guarantee persons, all the other insured persons personally cover their own 9 % contribution. [ 361 ] South Korea ‘s old-age pension scheme covers individuals age 60 or older for the rest of their life equally long as they have satisfied the minimum of 20 years of national pension coverage advance. [ 362 ] Individuals with a minimum of 10 years covered under the national pension scheme and who are 60 years of age are able to be covered by under a ‘reduced old-age pension ‘ scheme. There besides is an ‘active old-age pension ‘ scheme that covers individuals senesce 60 to 65 engaged in activities yielding earned income. Individuals senesce of 55 and younger than 60 who are not engaged in activities yielding earned income are eligible to be covered under the ‘early old-age pension ‘ scheme. [ 363 ] about 60 % of all korean elders, long time 65 and over are entitled to a 5 % benefit of their past median income at an average of 90,000 korean Won ( KRW ). [ 364 ] Basic old-age pension schemes covered individuals 65 years of senesce who earned below an sum set by presidential order. In 2010, that ceiling was 700,000 KRW for a single individual and 1,120,000 for a couple, equivalent to around $ 600.00 and $ 960.00. [ 362 ]

skill and engineering

Scientific and technological exploitation in the South Korea at first did not occur largely because of more pressing matters such as the division of Korea and the Korean War that occurred correct after its independence. It was not until the 1960s under the dictatorship of Park Chung-hee where South Korea ‘s economy quickly grew from industrialization and the Chaebol corporations such as Samsung and LG. Ever since the industrialization of South Korea ‘s economy, South Korea has placed its focus on technology-based corporations, which has been supported by infrastructure developments by the government. south korean corporations Samsung and LG were ranked beginning and third base largest mobile earphone companies in the worldly concern in the inaugural quarter of 2012, respectively. [ 365 ] An estimated 90 % of South Koreans own a mobile call. [ 366 ] aside from placing/receiving calls and textbook message, mobile phones in the country are wide used for watching Digital Multimedia Broadcasting ( DMB ) or viewing websites. [ 367 ] Over one million DMB phones have been sold and the three major wireless communications providers SK Telecom, KT, and LG U+ provide coverage in all major cities and other areas. South Korea has the fastest Internet download speeds in the world, [ 368 ] with an average download rush of 25.3 Mbit/s. [ 369 ] South Korea leads the OECD in graduates in skill and technology. [ 370 ] From 2014 to 2019, the nation ranked inaugural among the most innovative countries in the Bloomberg Innovation Index. [ 371 ] [ 372 ] [ 373 ] [ 374 ] [ excessive citations ] It was ranked tenth in the Global Innovation Index 2020, up from 11st in 2019. [ 375 ] [ 376 ] [ 377 ] [ 378 ] [ excessive citations ] Additionally, South Korea nowadays is known as a Launchpad of a ripen fluid market, where developers can reap benefits of a market where very few engineering constraints exist. There is a growing course of inventions of new types of media or apps, utilizing the 4G and 5G internet infrastructure in South Korea. South Korea has nowadays the infrastructures to meet a density of population and culture that has the capability to create firm local particularity. [ 379 ]

Cyber security system

Following cyberattacks in the first half of 2013, whereby politics, news-media, television post, and bank websites were compromised, the national government committed to the train of 5,000 new cybersecurity experts by 2017. The south korean government blamed North Korea for these attacks, ampere well as incidents that occurred in 2009, 2011 and 2012, but Pyongyang denies the accusations. [ 380 ] In deep September 2013, a computer-security competition jointly sponsored by the defense ministry and the National Intelligence Service was announced. The winners were announced on 29 September 2013 and shared a total loot pool of 80 million acquire ( US $ 74,000 ). [ 380 ] South Korea ‘s politics maintains a broad-ranging approach toward the regulation of specific on-line content and imposes a significant level of censoring on election-related discussion and on many websites that the politics deems revolutionist or socially harmful. [ 381 ] [ 382 ]

Aerospace technology

South Korea has sent up 10 satellites since 1992, all using foreign rockets and oversea launch pads, notably Arirang-1 in 1999, and Arirang-2 in 2006 as contribution of its distance partnership with Russia. [ 383 ] Arirang-1 was lost in space in 2008, after nine years in service. [ 384 ] In April 2008, Yi So-yeon became the first korean to fly in space, aboard the russian Soyuz TMA-12. [ 385 ] [ 386 ] In June 2009, the beginning spaceport of South Korea, Naro Space Center, was completed at Goheung, Jeollanam-do. [ 387 ] The launch of Naro-1 in August 2009 resulted in a failure. [ 388 ] The second try in June 2010 was besides abortive. [ 389 ] however, the third launch of the Naro 1 in January 2013 was successful. [ 390 ] The government plans to develop Naro-2 by the year 2018. [ 391 ] South Korea ‘s efforts to build an autochthonal space establish vehicle have been marred due to persistent political pressure from the United States, who had for many decades hindered South Korea ‘s autochthonal rocket and missile development programs [ 392 ] in fear of their possible connection to clandestine military ballistic missile programs, which Korea many times insisted did not violate the research and development guidelines stipulated by US-Korea agreements on restriction of south korean rocket technology research and development. [ 393 ] South Korea has sought the aid of foreign countries such as Russia through MTCR commitments to supplement its restricted domestic skyrocket engineering. The two failed KSLV-I plunge vehicles were based on the Universal Rocket Module, the first stage of the Russian Angara rocket, combined with a solid-fueled second stage built by South Korea .

Robotics

Albert HUBO, developed by KAIST, can make expressive gestures with its five branch fingers. Robotics has been included in the tilt of main national R & D projects in Korea since 2003. [ 394 ] In 2009, the politics announced plans to build robot-themed parks in Incheon and Masan with a blend of public and individual fund. [ 395 ] In 2005, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology ( KAIST ) developed the world ‘s second walk android automaton, HUBO. A team in the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology developed the first korean android, EveR-1 in May 2006. [ 396 ] EveR-1 has been succeeded by more complex models with better motion and vision. [ 397 ] [ 398 ] Plans of creating English-teaching automaton assistants to compensate for the dearth of teachers were announced in February 2010, with the robots being deployed to most preschools and kindergartens by 2013. [ 399 ] Robotics are besides incorporated in the entertainment sector as well ; the Korean Robot Game Festival has been held every year since 2004 to promote science and automaton engineering. [ 400 ]

biotechnology

Since the 1980s, the korean government has invested in the development of a domestic biotechnology industry, and the sector is projected to grow to $ 6.5 billion by 2010. [ 401 ] The medical sector accounts for a large region of the production, including production of hepatitis vaccines and antibiotics. recently, research and development in genetics and clone has received increasing attention, with the first successful cloning of a dog, Snuppy ( in 2005 ), and the cloning of two females of an endangered species of grey wolves by the Seoul National University in 2007. [ 402 ] The rapid growth of the industry has resulted in significant voids in regulation of ethics, as was highlighted by the scientific wrongdoing event involving Hwang Woo-Suk. [ 403 ] Since recently 2020, SK Bioscience Inc. ( a division of SK Group ) has been producing a major proportion of the Vaxzevria vaccine ( besides known as COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca ), under license from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, for worldwide distribution through the COVAX facility under the WHO hospice. A late agreement with Novavax expands its production for a second vaccine to 40 million doses in 2022, with a $ 450 million investment in domestic and abroad facilities. [ 404 ]

culture

gayageum A musician play a South Korea shares its traditional culture with North Korea, but the two Koreas have developed distinct contemporary forms of culture since the peninsula was divided in 1945. Historically, while the acculturation of Korea has been heavy influenced by that of neighboring China, it has however managed to develop a unique cultural identity that is distinct from its larger neighbor. [ 405 ] Its rich and vibrant culture left 21 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, [ 406 ] the fourth largest in the world, along with 15 World Heritage Sites. The south korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism actively encourages the traditional arts, ampere well as modern forms, through fund and department of education programs. [ 407 ] The industrialization and urbanization of South Korea have brought many changes to the way modern Koreans live. Changing economics and lifestyles have led to a concentration of population in major cities, particularly the capital Seoul, with multi-generational households separating into nuclear class living arrangements. A 2014 Euromonitor study found that South Koreans drink the most alcohol on a weekly basis compared to the rest of the populace. South Koreans drink 13.7 shots of liquor per workweek on average and, of the 44 other countries analyzed, Russia, the Philippines, and Thailand follow. [ 408 ]

artwork

A blue and white porcelain peach-shaped water dropper from the Joseon Dynasty in the eighteenth hundred korean art has been highly influenced by Buddhism and Confucianism, which can be seen in the many traditional paintings, sculptures, ceramics and the do arts. [ 409 ] korean pottery and porcelain, such as Joseon ‘s baekja and buncheong, and Goryeo ‘s celadon are good known throughout the world. [ 410 ] The korean tea ceremony, pansori, talchum and buchaechum are besides celebrated korean perform arts. Post-war mod Korean art started to flourish in the 1960s and 1970s, when south korean artists took interest in geometric shapes and intangible subjects. Establishing a harmony between man and nature was besides a front-runner of this clock time. Because of social instability, social issues appeared as main subjects in the 1980s. art was influenced by diverse international events and exhibits in Korea, and with it brought more diverseness. [ 411 ] The Olympic Sculpture Garden in 1988, the transposition of the 1993 edition of the Whitney Biennial to Seoul, [ 412 ] the universe of the Gwangju Biennale [ 413 ] and the korean pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1995 [ 414 ] were luminary events .

architecture

Because of South Korea ‘s disruptive history, structure and end has been repeated interminably, resulting in an matter to odds and ends of architectural styles and designs. [ 415 ] korean traditional architecture is characterized by its harmony with nature. ancient architects adopted the bracket system characterized by thatch roof and heated floors called ondol. [ 416 ] People of the upper berth classes built bigger houses with elegantly curved tiled roof with lifting eaves. traditional architecture can be seen in the palaces and temples, preserved erstwhile houses called hanok, [ 417 ] and limited sites like Hahoe Folk Village, Yangdong Village of Gyeongju and Korean Folk Village. traditional computer architecture may besides be seen at the nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites in South Korea. [ 418 ]
western architecture was first introduced to Korea at the end of the nineteenth hundred. Churches, offices for alien legislation, schools and university buildings were built in new styles. With the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910 the colonial government intervened in Korea ‘s architectural inheritance, and Japanese-style modern computer architecture was imposed. The anti-Japanese sentiment, and the Korean War, led to the end of most buildings constructed during that time. [ 419 ] korean architecture entered a new phase of exploitation during the post-Korean War reconstruction, incorporating modern architectural trends and styles. Stimulated by the economic growth in the 1970s and 1980s, active renovation saw newly horizons in architectural invention. In the consequence of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, South Korea has witnessed a wide mutant of styles in its architectural landscape due, in big separate, to the opening up of the market to foreign architects. [ 420 ] Contemporary architectural efforts have been constantly trying to balance the traditional doctrine of “ harmony with nature ” and the fast-paced urbanization that the nation has been going through in late years. [ 421 ]

cuisine

korean cuisine, hanguk yori ( 한국요리 ; 韓國料理 ), or hansik ( 한식 ; 韓食 ), has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Ingredients and dishes vary by province. There are many significant regional dishes that have proliferated in unlike variations across the area in the present day. The korean royal court cuisine once brought all of the alone regional specialties together for the royal kin. Meals consumed both by the royal family and ordinary korean citizens have been regulated by a unique culture of etiquette. korean cuisine is largely based on rice, noodles, bean curd, vegetables, pisces and meats. traditional korean meals are noted for the numeral of english dishes, banchan ( 반찬 ), which accompany steam-cooked short-grain rice. Every meal is accompanied by numerous banchan. Kimchi ( 김치 ), a fermented, normally spicy vegetable cup of tea is normally served at every meal and is one of the best know korean dishes. korean cuisine normally involves heavy seasoning with sesame oil, doenjang ( 된장 ), a type of ferment soy paste, soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger, and gochujang ( 고추장 ), a hot pepper paste. other well-known dishes are Bulgogi ( 불고기 ), grilled marinated beef, Gimbap ( 김밥 ), and Tteokbokki ( 떡볶이 ), a piquant bite consist of rice patty seasoned with gochujang or a piquant chili paste. Soups are besides a common part of a korean meal and are served as share of the main naturally rather than at the begin or the end of the meal. Soups known as guk ( 국 ) are often made with meats, mollusk and vegetables. alike to guk, tang ( 탕 ; 湯 ) has less water, and is more frequently served in restaurants. Another type is jjigae ( 찌개 ), a stew that is typically heavily seasoned with chili pepper and served boiling hot. popular Korean alcoholic beverages include Soju, Makgeolli and Bokbunja ju. Korea is singular among east asian countries in its use of metallic element chopsticks. metal chopsticks have been discovered in Goguryeo archaeological sites. [ 422 ]

entertainment

BTS, one of the most successful K-pop groups In addition to domestic consumption, South Korea has a booming entertainment industry where diverse facets of south korean entertainment, including television receiver play, films, and popular music, has generated significant fiscal revenues for the nation ‘s economy. The cultural phenomenon known as Hallyu or the “ korean Wave ”, has swept many countries across Asia making South Korea a major soft baron as an exporter of popular culture and entertainment, rivaling western nations such as the United States and the United Kingdom. [ 423 ] [ 424 ]
Until the 1990s, trotskyite and traditional Korean folk music based ballads dominated south korean democratic music. The egress of the south korean popular group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 marked a flex point for confederacy korean popular music, besides known as K-pop, as the music genre modernized itself from incorporating elements of democratic musical genres from across the worldly concern such as westerly popular music, experimental, jazz, gospel, Latin, classical, hip hop, rhythm and blues, electronic dance, reggae, country, folk music, and rock on clear of its uniquely traditional korean music roots. [ 425 ] Western-style pop, hip hop, rhythm and blues, rock, folk music, electronic dance oriented acts have become dominant in the modern South Korean popular music scene, though trot is even enjoyed among older South Koreans. K-pop stars and groups are well known across Asia and have found external fame making millions of dollars in export tax income. many K-pop acts have besides been able to secure a strong overseas following using on-line social media platforms such as the video sharing web site YouTube. south korean singer PSY became an international sensation when his song “ Gangnam Style “ topped ball-shaped music charts in 2012. Since the success of the film Shiri in 1999, the Korean film industry has begun to gain recognition internationally. Domestic film has a dominant parcel of the grocery store, partially because of the universe of screen quotas requiring cinema to show korean films at least 73 days a class. [ 426 ] 2019 ‘s Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho, became the highest-grossing film in South Korea arsenic well as the first non-English terminology film to win Best visualize at the United States-based Academy Awards that year amongst numerous other accolades. south korean television receiver shows have become popular outside of Korea. south korean television receiver play, known as K-dramas, have begun to find fame internationally. many play tend to have a amatory focus, such as Princess Hours, You’re Beautiful, Playful Kiss, My Name is Kim Sam Soon, Boys Over Flowers, Winter Sonata, Autumn in My Heart, Full House, City Hunter, All About Eve, Secret Garden, I Can Hear Your Voice, Master’s Sun, My Love from the Star, Healer, Descendants of the Sun, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, and Crash Landing on You. Historical play have included Faith, Dae Jang Geum, The Legend, Dong Yi, Moon Embracing the Sun, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Iljimae and Kingdom. [ 427 ] [ 428 ] The survival drama Squid Game, created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, received critical applaud and widespread international attention upon its exhaust, becoming Netflix ‘s most-watched series at launch and garnering a viewership of more than 142 million households during its first four weeks from launch. [ 429 ] [ 430 ] [ 431 ] [ 432 ]

Holidays

traditional korean family dance There are many official public holidays in South Korea. Korean New Year ‘s Day, or “ Seollal ”, is celebrated on the first day of the Korean lunar calendar. korean Independence Day falls on 1 March, and commemorates the 1 March Movement of 1919. memorial Day is celebrated on 6 June, and its determination is to honor the men and women who died in South Korea ‘s independence movement. Constitution Day is on 17 July, and it celebrates the announcement of Constitution of the Republic of Korea. Liberation Day, on 15 August, celebrates Korea ‘s liberation from the Empire of Japan in 1945. Every 15th day of the 8th lunar calendar month, Koreans celebrate the Midautumn Festival, in which Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and eat a variety show of traditional korean foods. On 1 October, Armed Forces day is celebrated, honoring the military forces of South Korea. 3 October is National Foundation Day. Hangul Day, on 9 October commemorates the invention of hangul, the native alphabet of the korean linguistic process .

Sports

The warlike artwork tae kwon do originated in Korea. In the 1950s and 1960s, modern rules were standardized, with tae kwon do becoming an official Olympic sport in 2000. [ 433 ] other korean warlike arts include Taekkyon, hapkido, Tang Soo Do, Kuk Sool Won, kumdo and subak. [ 434 ] football and baseball have traditionally been regarded as the most popular sports in Korea. [ 435 ] Recent poll indicates that a majority, 41 % of south korean sports fans continue to self-identify as football fans, with baseball ranked 2nd at 25 % of respondents. however, the poll did not indicate the extent to which respondents follow both sports. [ 436 ] The home football team became the first team in the Asian Football Confederation to reach the FIFA World Cup semi-finals in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan. The Korea Republic home team ( as it is known ) has qualified for every World Cup since Mexico 1986, and has broken out of the group stage twice : first in 2002, and again in 2010, when it was defeated by eventual semi-finalist Uruguay in the Round of 16. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, South Korea won the bronze decoration for football .
baseball was first introduced to Korea in 1905 and has since become increasingly popular, with some sources claiming it has surpassed football as the most popular sport in the nation. [ 437 ] [ 438 ] [ 439 ] Recent years have been characterized by increasing attendance and ticket prices for professional baseball games. [ 440 ] [ 441 ] The Korea Professional Baseball league, a 10-team circuit, was established in 1982. The South Korea national team finished third in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and second base in the 2009 tournament. The team ‘s 2009 final examination game against Japan was widely watched in Korea, with a large screen at Gwanghwamun crossing in Seoul broadcasting the bet on live. [ 442 ] In the 2008 Summer Olympics, South Korea won the amber decoration in baseball. [ 443 ] besides in 1982, at the Baseball Worldcup, Korea won the gold decoration. At the 2010 asian Games, the Korean National Baseball team won the gold decoration. respective korean players have gone on to play in Major League Baseball. basketball is a popular mutant in the nation adenine well. South Korea has traditionally had one of the top basketball teams in Asia and one of the continent ‘s strongest basketball divisions. Seoul hosted the 1967 and 1995 asian Basketball Championship. The Korea home basketball team has won a record number of 23 medals at the event to date. [ 444 ]
Taekwondo, a Korean martial art and Olympic sport South Korea hosted the asian Games in 1986 ( Seoul ), 2002 ( Busan ), and 2014 ( Incheon ). It besides hosted the Winter Universiade in 1997, the asian Winter Games in 1999, and the Summer Universiade in 2003 and 2015. In 1988, South Korea hosted the Summer Olympics in Seoul, coming fourth with 12 amber medals, 10 flatware medals, and 11 bronze medals. South Korea regularly performs well in archery, shooting, table tennis, badminton, short-circuit track speed skating, handball, field field hockey, freestyle wrestle, Greco-Roman writhe, baseball, judo, tae kwon do, rush skating, figure skate, and weightlifting. The Seoul Olympic Museum is dedicated to the 1988 Summer Olympics. On 6 July 2011, Pyeongchang was chosen by the IOC to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. South Korea has won more medals in the winter Olympics than any other asian state, with a total of 45 ( 23 aureate, 14 argent, and 8 bronze ). At the 2010 Winter Olympics, South Korea ranked fifth in the overall decoration rankings. South Korea is specially strong in light track focal ratio skating. focal ratio skating and figure skate are besides democratic, and frost field hockey is an emerging sport, with Anyang Halla winning their first always Asia League Ice Hockey deed in March 2010. [ 445 ] Seoul hosted a professional triathlon subspecies, which is contribution of the International Triathlon Union ( ITU ) World Championship Series in May 2010. [ 446 ] In 2011, the south korean city of Daegu hosted the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Athletics. [ 447 ] In October 2010, South Korea hosted its first Formula One race at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, about 400 kilometres ( 250 mile ) south of Seoul. [ 448 ] The korean Grand Prix was held from 2010 to 2013, but was not placed on the 2014 F1 calendar. [ 449 ] domestic horse racing events are besides followed by South Koreans and Seoul Race Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do is located closest to Seoul out of the country ‘s three tracks. [ 450 ] competitive video recording bet on, besides called Esports ( sometimes written e-Sports ), has become more popular in South Korea in late years, particularly among new people. [ 451 ] The two most popular games are League of Legends and StarCraft. The gaming scene of South Korea is managed by the Korean e-Sports Association .

See besides

Notes

^ 19.7 % are Protestant, 7.9 % are Catholic
^Korean: 한국韓國RR: Hanguk; literally 남한南韓RR: Namhan, or 남조선南朝鮮MR: Namchosŏn in North Korean usage ; literally, orin north korean custom
^대한민국大韓民國RR: Daehan Minguk korean :