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Definition: Korea |
KoreaNoun1. An Asian peninsula (off Manchuria) separating the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan; the Korean name is Choson. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "Korea" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1897. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The culture of South Korea is shared with that of North Korea, but there are regional differences (see also Culture of North Korea). The political differences between the north and the south of the peninsula also mean that there is a different focus on specific aspects of Korean culture.(See also: Traditional Korean thought; Contemporary culture of South Korea)
Traditional Korean Arts
Traditional Music
The traditional music in Korea is based on the voice. It is thought that the voice is a distinctively Korean voice, reflecting the temperament and history of Korean people. There are two kinds of traditional music: Jeongak and Minsogak.
Also see: Music of Korea
Jeongak
Jeongak is court music and has a strong intellectual emphasis. This kind of traditional music is closely related to the upper-class, the literate. Jeongak is played at a very slow pace. Some single beats can take three seconds. The beat matches the speed of breathing rather than the heartbeat as in most Western music. As a result of this slow speed, the music feels static and mediative. Most ordinary people do not take pleasure in listening to this kind of music.
The tone of Jeongak is soft and tranquil. This is so, because the traditional instrument are made of non-metallic materials. String instruments have strings made of silk rather than wire. Almost all wind instruments are made of bamboo.
Minsogak
Minsogak is Korea's traditional folk music and is full of expressions and emotions. This kind of traditional music is closely related to the lives of common people. In opposition to Jeongak, the music of Minsogak matches the heartbeat.
As with the Jeongak, improvisation is common in Minsogak. This is much more evident in the emotional music of Minsogak.
Traditional Korean Instruments
Traditional Korean wind instruments include the cylindrical oboe (piri), metal-bell shawm (taepyeongso), transverse flute ('\'daegeum), end-blown flute (danso), mouth organ (saenghwang) and the ocarina (hun'').
Traditional string instruments include the twelve-stringed zither (gayageum), the six-stringed zither (geomungo), the seven-stringed zither (ajaeng) and the-stringed fiddle (haegeum).
There is a great number of traditional percussion instruments, including the hand-held gong (kkwaenggwari), the hanging gong (jing), barrel drum (buk), hourglass drum (janggu), clapper (bak), bell chimes (pyeonjong), stone chimes (pyeongyeong), as well as the tiger-shaped scraper (eo) and the wooden box (chuk).
Characteristics of Traditional Korean Music
Apart from the instruments used, traditional Korean music is characterized by improvisation and the lack of breaks between movements. Pansori is a good example of the latter. A pansori performance can last for over eight hours during which a single singer performs continuously.
Rather than contrasting different speeds as it is common in Western music, most traditional korean music begins with the slowest movement and then accelerates as the performance continues.
Traditional Dance
Traditional dances have been part of Korea's culture ever since it can be remembered. The cross cultural exchanges with China and between the three Kingdoms produced a large variety of distinctive dances. There is a distinction made between native dances (hyangak jeongjae) and imported dances (dangak jeongjae) which refers to dances imported from China.
As with music, there is a distinction between court dances and folk dances. Common court dances are jeongjaemu performed at banquets, and ilmu. Ilmu are line dances performed at Confucian rituals. Jeongjaemu is divided into native dances (hyangak jeongjae) and imported forms (dangak jeongjae). Ilmu are divided into civil dance (munmu) and military dance (mumu).
Folk dances are commonly divided into religious dances which are led by monks and secular dances which are performed by the ordinary people. Religious dances include all the performances at shamanistic rites (gut). Secular dances include both group dances and individual performances.
Traditional choreography of court dances is reflected in many contemporary productions.
Folk Games
Many folk games are associated with shamanistic rites and have been handed down from one generation to the next. Three rites are important with regards to folk games: Yeonggo, Dongmaeng and Mucheon. Yeonggo is a drumming performance to invoke spirits. Dongmaeng is a harvest ceremony, while Mucheon is dances to the heaven. These performances were refined during the period of the Three Kingdoms and games were added.
Ssireum is a form of traditional wrestling. Other traditional games include pitching arrows into a pot (tuho) and a game of stick-tossing (jeopo). There are also stone fights (seokjeon), swing riding (geune tagi), masked dance drama, and a ball game (gyeokgu).
The days during which the games were held varied between regions, kingdoms and times, but always concurrent with other festivals.
Korean Paintings
The earliest paintings found on the Korean peninsula are petroglyphs of prehistoric times. With the arrival of Buddhism from China, painting techniques were introduced. These quickly established themselves the mainstream techniques, but indigenous techniques still survived.
There is a tendency towards naturalism with subjects such as realistic landscapes, flowers and birds being particularly popular. Ink is the most common material used, and it is painted on mulberry paper or silk.
In the 18th century indigenous techniques were advanced, particularly in calligraphy and seal engraving.
Korean Crafts
There is a unique set of handicrafts produced in Korea. Most of the handicrafts are created for a particular everyday use, often giving priority to the practical use rather than aesthetics. Traditionally, metal, wood, fabric, laquerware and earthenware were the main materials used, but later glass, leather or paper have sporadically been used.
Ancient handicrafts, such as red and black pottery, share similarities with pottery of Chinese cultures along the Yellow River. The relicts found of the Bronze Age, however, are distinctive and more elaborate.
Many sophisticated and elaborate handicrafts have been excavated, including gilt crowns, patterned pottery, pots or ornaments. During the Goryeo period the use of bronze was advanced. Brass, that is copper with one third zinc, has been a particularly popular material. The dynasty, however, is renowned for its use of celadon ware.
During the Joseon period popular handicrafts were made of porcelain and decorated with blue painting. Woodcraft was also advanced during that period. This led to more sophisticated pieces of furniture, including wardrobes, chests, tables or drawers.
Ceramics
The use of earthen ware on the Korean peninsula goes back to the Neolithic Age. During the Three Kingdoms period, pottery was advanced in Silla. The pottery was fired using a deoxidizing flame, which caused the distinctive blue grey celadon colour. The surface was embossed with various geometrical pattern.
In the Goryeo period jade green celadon ware became more popular. In the 12th century sophisticated methods of inlaying were invented, allowing more elaborate decorations in different colours.
White porcelain became popular in the 15th century. It soon overtook celadon ware. White porcelain was commonly painted or decorated with copper. With the Japanese invasion in Korea in the 16th century, many leading potterists were brought to Japan where they nurtured the growth of Japanese ceramics.
In the mid Joseon period (late 17th century) blue-and-white porcelain became popular. Designs were painted in cobalt blue on white porcelain. With the growth of Japan's hegemony on the peninsula towards the end of the 19th century the tradition of porcelain largely declined.
Traditional Korean Lifestyle
Traditional Residences
Sites of residence are traditionally selected using geomancy. It is believed that any topographical configuration generates invisible forces of good or ill (gi). The negative and positive energies (yin and yang) must be brought into balance.
Traditional farmer's house (folk village, Seoul)
Traditional house of a scholar (Gangneung)A house should be built against a hill and face south to receive as much sunlight as possible. This orientation is still preferred in modern Korea. Geomancy also influences the shape of the building, the direction they face and the material they are built of.
Traditional Korean houses can be structured into an inner wing (anchae) and an outer wing (sarangchae). The individual layout largely depends on the region and the wealth of the family. Whereas aristocrats used the outer wing for receptions, poorer people kept cattle in the sarangchae. The wealthier a family, the larger the house. However, it was forbidden to any family except for the king to have a residence of more than 99 kan. A kan is the distance between two pillars used in traditional houses.
The inner wing normally consisted of a living room, a kitchen and a wooden-floored central hall. More rooms may be attached to this. Poorer farmers would not have any outer wing. Floor heating (ondol) has been used in Korea for centuries. The main building materials are wood, clay, tile, stone and thatch. Because wood and clay were the most common materials used in the past not many old buildings have survived into present times.
Gardens
The principles of temple gardens and private gardens are the same. They generally resemble gardens in China and Japan. This is so, because gardening in East Asia is heavily influenced by Taoism. Taoism emphasizes nature and mystery, paying great attention to the details of the layout. In contrast to Japanese and Chinese gardens, traditional Korean gardens avoid artificialities.
PoseokjeongThe Lotus pond is an important feature in the Korean garden. If there is a natural stream, often a pavilion is built next to it, allowing the pleasure of watching the water. Terraced flower beds are a common feature in traditional Korean gardens.
The Poseokjeong site near Gyeongju was built in the Silla period. It highlights the importance of water in traditional Korean gardens. The garden of Poseokjeong features an abalone-shaped watercourse. During the last days of the Silla kingdom, the king's guest would sit along the watercourse and chat while wine cups were floated during banquets.
Traditional Dress
The traditional dress known as hanbok has been worn for since ancient times. The hanbok consists of either trousers or a skirt and a robe. The traditional hat is called gwanmo and special meaning is attached to this piece of clothing.
According to social status, Koreans used to dress differently, making clothing an important mark of social rank. Impressive, but sometimes cumbersome, costumes were worn by the ruling class and the royal family. Jewellery was also used to distance themselves from the ordinary people.
Common people were often restricted to undyed plain clothes. This everyday dress underwent relatively few changes during the Joseon period. The basic everyday dress was shared by everyone, but distinctions were drawn in official and ceremonial clothes.
During the winter people wore cotton-wadded dresses. Fur was also common. Because ordinary people normally wore undyed materials, the people was sometimes referred to as the white-clad folk.
Hanbok are classified according to their purposes: everyday dress, ceremonial dress and special dress. Ceremonial dresses are worn on formal occasions, including a child's first birthday, a wedding or a funeral. Special dresses are made for purposes such as shamans, officials.
Today the hanbok is still sometimes worn during formal occasions. The everyday use, however, has been lost.
Essential Recipes
Rice is the staple food of Korea. Having been an almost exclusively agricultural country until recently, the essential recipes in Korea are shaped by this experience. The main crops in Korea are rice and beans, but many supplementary crops are used. Seafood is important, given that the country is by the sea on three sides.
Fermented recipes have been developed in early times. This includes pickled fish and pickled vegetables. This kind of food provides essential proteins and vitamins during the winter.
A number of menus have been developed. These can be divided into ceremonial foods and ritual foods. Ceremonial foods are used when a child reaches 100 days, at the first birthday, at a wedding ceremony, and the sixtieth birthday. Ritual foods are used at funerals, at ancestral rites, shaman's offerings and as temple food.
Temple food is distinguished as it does not use the common five strong-flavoured ingredients of Korean cuisine (garlic, spring onion, wild rocambole, leek and ginger), nor meat.
For ceremonies and rituals rice cakes are vital. The colouring of the food and the ingredients of the recipes are matched according to yin and yang, trying to reach a balance.
Today, traditional court cuisine, is available to the whole population. In the past vegetable dishes were essential, but meat consumption has increased. Traditional dishes include ssambap, bulgogi, sinseollo, kimchi, bibimbap and gujeolpan.
(see also: Kimchi)
The Art of Tea
Tea in Korea dates back over 2000 years. It was part of a number of worship recipes, hoping that the good scents would reach the heavenly gods. Tea was introduced in Korea, when Buddhism was introduced from China.
Originally tea was used for ceremonial purposes or as part of traditional herbal medicine. Green tea, as it is used in China and Japan, is not the only kind of tea drunk in Korea. A great number of teas made of fruits, leaves, seed or roots are enjoyed. Five tastes of tea are distinguished in Korea: sweet, sour, acidic, bitter and salty.
Festival Significance Events Date (lunar) food Seollal Lunar New Year's Day An ancestral service is offered before the grave of the ancestors, New Year's greetings are exchanged with family, relatives and neighbours; bows to elders (sebae). Day 1 of Month 1 sliced rice cake in soup (tteokguk), honey cakes (yakwa). Daeboreum First full moon Talisman burning to ward evil spirits (aengmagi taeugi), bonfires (daljip taegi) Day 15 of Month 1 rice boiled with five grains (ogokbap), nut eating (bureom), wine drinking (gwibalgisul) Junghwajeol Start of farming season Housecleaning, coming of age ceremony, fishermen's shaman rite (yeongdeunggut) Day 1 of Month 2 stuffed pine-flavoured rice cakes (songpyeon) Samjinnal Migrant swallows return Leg fighting, fortune telling Day 3 of Month 3 Azalea wine (dugyonju), pancake (dungyeon hwajeon) Hansik Visit to ancestral graves visit to ancestral grave Day 105 after winter solstice cold food only: mugwort cake (ssuktteok), mugwort dumplings (ssukdanja), mugwort soup (ssuktang) Dano Spring festival swinging, wrestling Day 5 of Month 5 rice cake with herbs (surichitteok), herring soup (junchiguk) Yudu Water greeting Water greeting, washing hair to wash away bad luck Day 15 of Month 6 Five coloured noodles (yudumyeon), rice dumplings (sudan) Chilseok Worship the Gods of the Seven Stars Worship the Gods of the Seven Stars (Great Dipper), rite praying for rain Day 7 of Month 7 wheat pancake (milijeonbyeong), rice cake with red beans (sirutteok) Baekjung Worship to Buddha Worship to Buddha Day 15 of Month 7 mixed rice cake (seoktanbyeong) Chuseok Harvest festival visit to ancestral grave, offering earliest rice grain (olbyeosinmi) Day 15 of Month 8 pine flavoured rice cake stuffed with chestnuts, sesame or beans (songpyeon), taro soup (torantang) Jungyangjeol Celebrating autumn Celebrating autumn with poetry and painting, composing poetry, enjoying nature Day 9 of Month 9 chrysanthemum pancake (gukhwajeon), roe (eoran), honey citron tea (yujacheong) Seotdal Geumeum New Year's Eve Staying up all night long with all doors open to receive ancestral spirits Day 31 of Month 12 mixed rice with vegetables (bibimbap), bean power rice cakes (injeolmi), traditional biscuits (hangwa) There is also a number of regional festivals, celebrated according to the lunar calendar.
World Cultural Heritages of Korea
There are a number of designated UNESCO World Heritage sites in South Korea.
Jongmyo Shrine
The Jongmyo Shrine was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1995. The shrine is dedicated to the spirits of the ancestors of the royal family of the Joseon Dynasty. It is heavily influenced by Confucian tradition.
When it was built in 1394 is was thought to be one of the longest buildings in Asia, if not the longest. There are 19 memorial tablets of kings and 30 of their queens, placed in 19 chambers. The shrine was burnt to the ground during the Japanese invasion in 1592, but rebuilt by 1608.
Changdeokgung
Changdeokgung is also known as the palace of illustrious virtue. It was built in 1405, burnt to the ground during the japanese invasion in 1592 and reconstructed in 1609. For more than 300 year Changdeokgung was the site of the royal seat. It is located in Seoul
The surroundings and the palace itself are well matched. Some of the trees behind the palace are now over 300 years old. Changdeokgung was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1997.
Bulguksa
Bulguksa is also known as the temple of the Buddha Land and home of the Seokguram Grotto. The temple was constructed in 751 and consists of a great number of halls. There are two pagodas placed in the temple.
Seokguram GrottoThe Seokguram grotto is a hermitage of the Bulguksa temple. It is a granite sanctuary. In the main chamber a Buddha statue is seated. The temple and the grotto were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1995.
Tripitaka Koreana and Haeinsa
Haeinsa is a large temple in the South Gyeongsang province. It was built in 802 and home to the Tripitaka Koreana wood blocks. The carving of these wood blocks was initiated in 1236 and only completed in 1251. The wood blocks are testimony to the pious devotion of king and his people.
The word Tripitaka is Sanskrit and stands for three baskets, referring to the Buddhist laws of aesthetics. The Tripitaka Koreana consists of 81'258 wood blocks. Amazingly there is no trace of errata or omission on any of the wood blocks. The Tripitaka Koreana is widely considered as the most beautiful and accurate Buddhist canon carved in Chinese characters.
The site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1995.
Hwaseong
Hwaseong is the fortification of the city Suwon south of Seoul in South Korea. Its construction was completed in 1796 and it features all the latest features of Korean fortification known at the time.
The fortress covers both flat land and hilly terrain, something rarely seen in East Asia. The walls are 5.52 kilometres long and there are 41 extant facilities along the perimeter. These include four cardinal gates, a floodgate, four secret gates and a beacon tower.
Hwaseong was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1997.
Sites of Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa
The sites of Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage in 2000. These sites are home to prehistoric graveyards which contain hundreds of differet megaliths. These megaliths are gravestones which were created in the 1st century B.C. out of large blocks of rock. Megaliths can be found around the globe, but nowhere in such a concentration as in the sites of Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa.
Gyeongju Area
The historic area around Gyeongju was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage in 2000. Gyongju was the capital of the Silla kingdom. The tombs of the Silla rulers can still be found in the centre of the city. These tombs tok the shape of rock chambers buried in an earthen hill, sometimes likened with the pyramids. The area around Gyeongju, in particular on the Namsan mountain, is scattered with hundreds of remains from the Silla period. Poseokjeong is one of the most famous of these sites, but there is a great number of Korean Buddhist art, sculptures, reliefs, pagodas and remains of temples and palaces mostly built in the 7th and 10th century.
See also: Hangeul
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Culture of Korea."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Korea is a peninsula in eastern Asia where people have lived since 12,000 - 15,000 years ago. It was once a huge unified country that had governed territories in Manchuria and limited territories of what is called Siberia today. At one point, it was the world's center for the very best silk in the world as noted by ancient Chinese scripts (but unknown to Europeans) and had the world's best goldsmiths during the 7th-8th Century. The art of movable metal type was invented in Korea before 1232, long before Gutenberg's inception in Europe.
Politically it is currently divided into the communist country of North Korea and the capitalist country of South Korea, since the 1950s when the Korean War occurred. For more on the regions of Korea (both North and South), see Provinces of Korea. The nation is renowned for its traditional dish called kimchi (see Korean cuisine) - which was developed by an innovative and unique process of preserving dietary vegetables (i.e. fermentation) before electric refrigeration existed.
Names
(Full article: Names of Korea)In Korean, Korea is referred to as "Chosŏn" (조선; 朝鮮) in the North and "Hanguk" (한국; 韓國) in the south. The western name "Korea" (from Goryeo (고려; 高麗)) is a neutral name often used by both countries in international contexts. There are complex historical reasons for the use of all three names, of which the following paragraph is a summary.
Before the Three Kingdoms Period, "Joseon" was the name of various early states in northern Korea, while "Han" was used in the names of several tribal confederacies in the south. (According to the Dangun myth, "Old Joseon" was the first Korean state.) In the 660s, the kingdoms of Baekje and Goguryeo came under the control of Silla, and Korea was called "Silla" (or Unified Silla by modern historians) from then until the 10th century. In 936, the newly formed kingdom of Goryeo defeated Silla. From Goryeo came "Cauli" (the Italian spelling of the name Marco Polo gave to the country in his Travels), from which came the English names "Corea" and the now more commonly used "Korea." (For the Corea-vs.-Korea debate, please see Names of Korea.) In 1392, the Joseon Dynasty came to power and the country was renamed "Joseon" (Daejoseonguk in full, or "Great Joseon Nation.") In 1897, the Korean Empire (Daehan Jeguk) was formed, reviving the name "Han." In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan and the name reverted to "Joseon" ("Chosen" in Japanese). In 1919, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was formed in Shanghai, which used the name "Republic of Korea" (Daehan Minguk), a modified form of the name "Korean Empire." After independence from Japan and the country's division in 1945, the southern American-occupied zone became the "Republic of Korea" (or Hanguk for short in Korean) in 1948, due to the influence of the non-Communist Shanghai group. Meanwhile, the northern Soviet-occupied zone became the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (or Joseon for short in Korean) under the control of Kim Il-sung, who wished to use the name "Joseon" for its ancient and northern connotations.
History of Korea
Prehistory
There exists archaelogical evidence that people were living in Korea during the Palaeolithic period - i.e., before the last ice age (roughly 18,000 to 12,000 years ago). According to classic legend, Korea's first large social civilization, Go-Chosun, was founded by the man-god Dangun (Tangun) in 2333 BC.
Ancient History
According to a few ancient transcripts, a Chinese exile Jizi (Gija) led 5,000 followers to the mountainous peninsula and founded a kingdom called Gija Joseon in 1122 BC by merging with existant populations. Historians are still debating migration of individuals that occurred around this period, and some do not accept this chapter as being solely true.
Three Kingdoms Period
In the period 57 BC to AD 668, the Three Kingdoms of Silla (or Shilla), Goguryeo, and Baekje existed, as well as the minor kingdom of Gaya (which was eventually absorbed into Silla). All three major kingdoms were influenced by China. Buddhism was introduced in 372. In 660 the stronger kingdom, Silla (also known as Koryu) allied with China's (Tang Dynasty) and overthrew Baekje (in 660) and Goguryeo (in 668). While Silla was forging diplomatic ties with China, Baekje had sustained a close relationship to Japan - and helped build the Nara Period (see Yamato) - before it completely fell to the Silla-Tang alliance. During the Unified Silla period (681 to 935) Buddhism expanded, and culture developed substantially.
Goryeo
The kingdom of Goryeo was founded in 918 and replaced Silla as the dominant power in Korea in the years 935-936. ("Goryeo" is a short form of "Goguryeo" and the source of the English name "Korea.") The kingdom lasted until 1392. During this period laws were codified, and a civil service system was introduced. Buddhism flourished, and spread throughout the peninsula. In 1231 the Mongols invaded Korea and after 25 years of struggle the royal family surrendered. For the following 150 years the Goryeo ruled, but under the control of the Mongols.
Joseon
In 1392 a Korean general, Yi Seonggye, was sent to China to campaign against the Ming Dynasty, but instead he allied himself with the Chinese, and returned to overthow the Goryeo king and establish a new dynasty. The Joseon Dynasty moved the capital to Hanseong (formerly Hanyang; modern-day Seoul) in 1394 and adopted Confucianism as the country's official religion, resulting in much loss of power and wealth by the Buddhists. During this period, the Hangeul alphabet was introduced by King Sejong in 1443.
Joseon (as Korea was called during the Joseon Dynasty) suffered invasions by Japan (1592 to 1598). Korea's most famous military figure, Admiral Yi Sun-sin was instrumental in defeating the invasion. The Manchus (1627 to 1636). Throughout most of its rule, the Joseon Dynasty were in a tributary relationship to the Chinese.
The 19th century
During the 19th century, Korea tried to prevent the opening of the country to foreign trade by closing the borders to all nations but China, resulting in it being called the Hermit Kingdom by many. In 1871, the United States first met Korea militarily, in what the Koreans call the Shinmiyangyo. Beginning in 1876 the Japanese forced trade agreements on Korea, won influence over Korea following the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), and assassinated Queen Min in 1895. In 1897, Joseon was renamed Daehan Jeguk (Korean Empire), and King Gojong became Emperor Gojong. A period of Russian influence followed, until Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Korea became a protectorate of Japan on 25 July 1907, the 1905 Protectorate Treaty having been promulgated without Emperor Gojong's required seal. In 1910 the country was officially annexed by Japan establishing the Japanese Colonial Period in Korea.
Japanese Colonial Period
(Main article (under construction): Japanese Colonial Period)
In 1910 Japan annexed Korea by military force. Korea continued to be a Japanese colony until Japan's surrender to the Allied Forces on 15 August 1945.
During the colonial rule Koreans were deprived of many rights, including freedom of assembly and association, free speech and an independent press. A Japanese school system was introduced, where subjects such as Korean history and language were dropped in favour of their Japanese equivalents.
Modern Transport and communication networks were established across the nation. This facilitated Japanese commerce. Koreans were barred from engaging in similar activities. Many farmers were stripped of their land after failing to register their ownership with the colonial rulers. Joint ownership as it was common in Korea at the time was not recognized by Japan.
After the former Korean emperor Gojong had died, anti-Japanese rallies took place nationwide on 1 March 1919 (the March 1st (Samil) Movement). A declaration of independence was read in Seoul. It is estimated that 2 million people took part in these rallies. This peaceful protest was brutally suppressed by the colonial rulers: an estimated 47,000 were arrested, 7,500 killed and 16,000 wounded.
As a consequence Japan's iron rule was softened. A constabulary force replaced the gendarmerie and partial freedom was given to the press. The oppression of the people and the exploitation of Korea's resources continued, although using different methods. Japan's speedy development as a capitalist society was only possible at the expense of Korean people, although as a by-product of the colonization Korea was industrialized.
Continued anti-Japanese rallies, such as the nationwide uprising of students in November 1929, led to the reinstating of military rule in 1931. After the outbreaks of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and World War II Japan attempted to wipe out Korea as a nation. Worship at Japanese Shinto shrines was made compulsory. The school curriculum was radically modified to reflect the changed policies. Korean people were forced to adopt Japanese names whilst the celebration of Korean culture was suppressed. Newspapers were prohibited from publishing in Korean and the study of Korean history was banned at university. Hundreds of thousands of able-bodied Koreans were drafted to work in Japanese mines and factories. Many Korean men were forced to join the Japanese military to fight against China whilst many women were forced to work as comfort women.
During the Colonial Period, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was established in Shanghai. On December 11, 1941 this provisional government declared war again and fought with its Korean Restoration Army alongside the Allied Forces. Seven days after the sundering of the friendship Pact, Soviet tanks invaded Korea from Siberia, meeting little to no resistance. Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces on 15 August 1945, ending 35 years of formal colonial rule. US forces under General Hodge, would not arrive to southern part of Korea until September 8th. Colonel Dean Rusk proposed splitting Korea at the 38th parallel at an emergency US meeting to determine spheres of influence during this time.
List of Japanese governors-general in Korea
The Division of Korea
(Main article: Division of Korea)The surrender of Japan, the earlier collapse of Nazi Germany, combined with fundamental shifts in global politics and ideology, led to the division of Korea into two occupation zones effectively starting on September 8, 1945, with the United States administering the southern half of the peninsula and the Soviet Union taking over the area north of the 38th parallel. This division was meant to be temporary and was first intended to return a unified Korea back to its people until the US, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Chiang Kai-Shek's China (also see Kuomintang) under Taiwan's current national flag could arrange a trusteeship administration.
At a meeting in Cairo on 1 December 1945, it was agreed that Korea would be free "in due course as one unified country;" at a later meeting in Yalta in February 1945, it was agreed to establish a four-power trusteeship over Korea. In December 1945, a conference convened in Moscow to discuss the future of Korea. A 5-year trusteeship was discussed, and a joint Soviet-American commission was established. The commission met intermittently in Seoul but deadlocked over the issue of establishing a national government. In September 1947, with no solution in sight, the United States submitted the Korean question to the UN General Assembly.
Initial hopes for a unified, independent Korea quickly evaporated as the politics of the Cold War and domestic opposition to the trusteeship plan resulted in the 1948 establishment of two separate nations with diametrically opposed political, economic, and social systems. In June 1950 the Korean War broke out, ending any hope of a peaceful reunification for the mean time. See History of North Korea and History of South Korea for the post-war period.
See also
- List of Korea-related topics
- Culture of Korea
- Famous Korean people
- Hanja
- Korean language
- Korean name
- List of mountains in Korea
- Music of Korea
- Koreans
- Provinces of Korea
- Rulers of Korea
- Special cities of Korea
- Traditional Korean thought
External links
- Pre-20th-Century Korea
- Korea News
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Korea."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Korean era names (yeonho; 연호; 年號) were only used during the Korean Empire, which was founded in 1897 and ended in 1910 with the beginning of the Japanese Colonial Period. The era names are as follows:
- Gwangmu (광무; 光武; "Bright Valour") - used for the reign of Emperor Gojong, 1897-1907
- Yeonghui (용희; 永熙; "Eternal Brilliance") - used for the reign of Emperor Sunjong, 1907-1910
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Korean era name."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Korean language is spoken primarily and officially in Korea (South Korea and North Korea), also in the People's Republic of China (Yanbian). Worldwide, there are around 70 million Korean speakers, including large groups in the former Soviet Union, the United States, Canada, and Japan. Korean is considered by many to be a member of the Altaic family, but its proper classification is not universally agreed on.
The native Korean writing system, the Hangul is alphabetic and phonetic. Along with Sino-Korean characters (Hanja), well over 50% of the Korean vocabulary comes directly or indirectly from from Chinese.
Names
The local names:
- in North Korea are:
- Chosŏnŏ (in McCune-Reischauer romanization, as used in North Korea; 조선어) or
- Chosŏnmal (조선말)
- in South Korea are:
- Hangugeo (in Revised Romanization of Korea, as used in Soth Korea; 한국어) or
- Hangungmal (한국말).
Classification
Korean is often classified as being a separate language in a family of its own (a language isolate). In addition, most Korean and some Western linguists recognize Korean's kinship to the Altaic languages. On the other hand, traditional Western (since the 18th century) and many Japanese linguists believe that Korea has genetic relationship with Japanese.
In Korea, the possibility of Korean-Japanese linguistic relationship has been ignored mostly. However, the Korean relationship with Altaic and proto-Altaic also have been much argued as of late. It does have some semblances considering the morphology to some languages of the Eastern Turkic group, namely, Yakutsk and some of its variants, and some linguistics believe that Altaic itself forms part of a larger Ural-Altaic language family.
Korean's seemingly similarities, especially vocabulary and certain prounciations, to Chinese (of the Sino-Tibetan family) is superificial and not genetic. They occurred because of close and frequent contacts during the time of recorded history.
Bilabial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal Stop Voiceless p t k Ejective p’ t’ k’ Aspirate ph th kh Fricative Voiceless s h Ejective s’ h Affricate Voiceless c Ejective c’ Aspirate ch Nasal m n N Liquid w l y Note that there is no aspirated /s/, and the dental fricative has a conditioned palatal allophone.
Some linguists consider the Korean "ejectives" to be tensed obstruents, namely, pronounced with greater glottal tension.
Vowels
i u, M E O, 7 { a A It is possible that the pair /a, A/ consitute a rounding contrast comparable to the other two pairs of back vowels.
Source: Talking to Koreans at Monash University, Australia.
Consonants p t c k ᄇ ᄃ ᄌ ᄀ p’ t’ c’ k’ ᄈ ᄄ ᄍ ᄁ ph th ch kh ᄑ ᄐ ᄎ ᄏ s h ᄉ ᄒ s’ ᄊ m n N ᄆ ᄂ ᄋ w r j (n/a) ᄅ (n/a)
Vowels i e } a o u 7 M ᅵ ᅦ ᅢ ᅡ ᅩ ᅮ ᅥ ᅳ Mi je j} ja jo ju j7 ᅴ ᅨ ᅤ ᅣ ᅭ ᅲ ᅧ ui ue o} oa u7 ᅱ ᅰ ᅫ ᅪ ᅯ (See also: Hangul consonant tables)
Modern Korean is written with spacess between words, a feature not found in the other CJK languages (Chinese and Japanese). Korean punctuation marks are almost identical to Western ones. Traditionally, Korean was written in columns from top to bottom, right to left, much as in other East Asian cultures. Korean is often still written in columns (especially in newspapers and poetry), but is now more usually now written in rows from left to right, top to bottom.
Phonology
Phonetic rules, mostly assimilation, transform the pronunciation of some words. For example,
Stop consonants are generally voiceless, but lightly aspirated stops become voiced and unaspirated in intervocalic position. For example,
- Jonglo is pronounced as Jongno
- Hankukmal as Hang-gungmal
Stops are nasalized before a nasal. For example,
- p -> b
- t -> d
- k -> g
Hangeul spelling does not reflect these assimilatory pronunciation rules, but rather maintains the underlying morphology.
- p -> m (before m, n, or ng)
- t -> n (before m, n, or ng)
- k -> ng (before m, n, or ng)
Grammar
Korean is an agglutinative language. Korean grammar is similar to that of the Japanese language. The basic form of a Korean sentence is Subject-Object-Verb (SOV), and modifiers precede the modified word. Accordingly, whereas in English, one would say, "I'm going to the store to buy some food", in Korean it would be: *"I food to-buy in-order-to store-to going-am."
In Korean, "unnecessary" words (see theme and rheme) can be left out of a sentence as long as the context makes the meaning clear. A typical exchange might translate word-for word to the following:
which in English would translate to:
- H: "가게에 가세요?"
- G: "예."
- H: *"store-to going-are?"
- G: "yes."
Unlike Romance languages, Korean does not conjugate verbs using agreement with the subject, and nouns have no gender. Instead, verb conjugations depend upon the verb tense and on the relation between the people speaking. When talking to or about friends, you would use one conjugate ending, to your parents, another, and to nobility/honored persons, another. This loosely echoes the T-V distinction of Spanish and German.
- H: "Are you going to the store?"
- G: "Yes."
Speech Levels and Honorifics
The relationship between a speaker or writer and his or her subject and audience is paramount in Korean, and the grammar reflects this. The relationship between speaker/writer and subject is reflected in honorifics, while that between speaker/writer and audience is reflected in speech level.
Speech Level Non-Honorific Present Indicative of "hada" Honorific Present Indicative of "hada" Level of Formality When Used Hasoseoche
(하소서체)hanaida
(하나이다)hashinaida
(하시나이다)Extremely formal and polite Traditionally used when addressing a king, queen, or high official; now only used in historical dramas and the Bible Hapshoche
(합쇼체)hamnida
(합니다)hashimnida
(하십니다)Formal and polite Used commonly between strangers, among male co-workers, by TV announcers, and to customers Haoche
(하오체)hao
(하오)hasho
(하쇼),
hashio
(하시오)Formal, of neutral politeness Only used nowadays among some older people; Samuel E. Martin's 1954 book Korean in a Hurry states that it was the form used by police officers when giving out traffic tickets! Hageche
(하게체)hane
(하네)hashine
(하시네)Informal, of neutral politeness Generally only used by some older people when addressing younger people, friends, or relatives Haerache
(해라체)handa
(한다)hashinda
(하신다)Formal, of neutral politeness Used to close friends, relatives of similar age, or younger people; also used almost universally in books, newspapapers, and magazines; also used in reported speech ("She said that...") Haeyoche
(해요체)haeyo
(해요)haseyo
(하세요) (common),
hasheoyo
(하셔요) (rare)Informal and polite Used mainly between strangers, especially those older or of equal age. Traditionally used more by women than men, though in Seoul many men prefer this form to the Hapshoche (see above). Haeche
(해체)hae (해)
(in speech),
hayeo (하여)
(in writing)hasheo(하셔) Informal, of neutral politeness or impolite Used most often between close friends and relatives, and when addressing younger people. It is NEVER used between strangers unless the speaker wants to pick a fight.
Vocabulary
The core of the Korean vocabulary is made up of native Korean words. Roughly 70% of the vocabulary, however, is made up of Sino-Korean words, which are derived from Chinese characters. Many of these words were borrowed from Chinese, although many modern-day scientific terms come from Japanese. To a much lesser extent, words have also been borrowed from Mongolian, Sanskrit, and other languages. In modern times, many words have also been borrowed from Western languages such as German and, more recently, English.
Numbers
- .
- .
- .
Dialects
Korean has several dialects (called mal, bangeon, or saturi in Korean). The standard language (Pyojuneo or Pyojunmal) of South Korea is based on the dialect of the area around Seoul, and the standard for North Korea is based on the dialect spoken around Pyeongyang. These dialects are similar, and in fact all dialects except that of Jeju (Cheju) Island are largely mutually intelligible. The dialect spoken there is classified as a different language by some Korean linguists. One of the most notable differences between dialects is the use of stress: speakers of Seoul Dialect use stress very little, and standard South Korean has a very flat intonation; on the other hand, speakers of Gyeongsang Dialect have a very pronounced intonation that makes their dialect sound more like a European language to western ears.
Although the naming and grouping of dialects is always changing as the study of dialects develops, here is a list of traditional dialect names and locations:
Dialect Where Used Seoulmal Seoul, Incheon, Gaeseong Cities, Gyeonggi, Gangweon, North/South Hwanghae Provinces Pyeonganmal Pyeongyang, Nampo Cities, North/South Pyeongan, Jagang Provinces Chungcheongmal Daejeon City, North/South Chungcheong Provinces Jeollamal Gwangju City, North/South Jeolla Provinces Gyeongsangmal Busan, Daegu, Ulsan Cities, North/South Gyeongsang Provinces Jejumal Jeju Island/Province Hamgyeongmal Cheongjin, Najin-Seonbong Cities, North/South Hamgyeong, Yanggang Provinces
See also
- Common phrases in different languages#Korean
- Romanization
- McCune-Reischauer
- Yale romanization
- Languages of China
External links
- Learn Korean
- Korean lessons
- English-Korean Dictionary
- http://www.ethnologue.com/show_iso639.asp?code=kor
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Korean language."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Korean War, from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953, was a conflict between communist North and anti-communist South Korea. It was also a proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Principal combatants were North and South Korea, the United States and the People's Republic of China, although many nations sent troops under the aegis of the United Nations. The Soviet Union also supplied combat advisors and aircraft pilots, in addition to arms, for the Chinese and North Korean troops.
The invasion of South Korea came as a complete surprise to the US; Dean Rusk of the State Department had told Congress on June 20 that no war was likely. However, a CIA report in early March had predicted a June invasion. US officials had previously publicly stated that America would not fight over Korea, and that the country was outside of American concern in the Pacific. This attitude may have encouraged the North or given Syngman Rhee in the South a motive to gain US support.
On hearing of the invasion, Truman agreed with his advisors to use US airstrikes, unilaterally, against the North Korean forces. He also ordered the Seventh Fleet to protect Formosa. The US gained a United Nations mandate for action because the Soviets were boycotting the Security Council while the (Nationalist controlled) Republic of China held the Chinese seat. Without the Soviet veto and with only Yugoslavia abstaining, the UN voted to aid South Korea. The US would have fought whatever the outcome, and Douglas MacArthur later told Congress "I had no connection with the UN whatsoever". US forces were eventually joined during the conflict by troops from fifteen other UN members: Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Greece, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, Colombia, the Philippines, Belgium, and Luxembourg. (Truman would later take harsh criticism for not obtaining a declaration of war from Congress before sending troops to Korea. Thus, "Truman's War" was said by some to have violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the United States Constitution.)
The US forces were suffering from demobilization which had continued since 1945. Excluding the Marines, the infantry divisions sent to Korea were at 40% of paper strength, and the majority of their equipment was found to be useless.
American soldiers in Korea The Americans organized Task Force Smith, and on July 5 engaged in the first North Korean/American clash of the war.
In initial stages of the war, North Korea's troops overwhelmed South Korean forces and drove them to a small area in the far South around the city of Pusan. This became a desperate holding action called the Pusan Perimeter. Upon the entrance of US and UN forces, American General Douglas MacArthur, as UN commander in chief for Korea, ordered an invasion far behind the North Korean troops at Inchon. United Nations troops drove the North Koreans back past the 38th parallel and continued on toward the Yalu River border of North Korea and China. This brought the communist Chinese into the war.
The communist Chinese had issued warnings that they would react if the UN forces encroached on the frontier at the Yalu River. Mao sought Soviet aid and saw intervention as essentially defensive. "If we allow the US to occupy all of Korea... we must be prepared for the US to declare... war with China", he told Stalin. Zhou Enlai was sent to Moscow to add force to Mao's cabled arguments. Mao delayed his forces while waiting for Russian help, and the planned attack was thus postponed from 13 October to 19 October. Soviet assistance was limited to providing air support no nearer than sixty miles (96 km) to the battlefront. The MiG-15s in PRC colours were an unpleasant surprise to the UN pilots; they held local air superiority against the F-80 Shooting Starss until the newer F-86 Sabres were deployed. The Soviet role was known to the US but they kept quiet as to avoid any international and potentional nuclear incidents.
A Chinese assault beginning on October 19, 1950, under the command of General Peng Dehuai with 380,000 People's Liberation Army troops repelled the United Nations troops back to the 38th parallel, the pre-conflict border. The Chinese assault caught US troops by surprise, as war between PRC and the United States had not been declared. The United States XX Corp retreat was the longest retreat of a US unit in history. The Marines, on the northern side of the pennisula, faired better, mainly due to better training and discipline.
On January 4, 1951, communist Chinese and North Korean forces captured Seoul. The battle of Chosin Reservoir in winter was a terrible defeat for the United Nations troops, who were mainly American Marines. The situation was such that MacArthur mentioned that atomic weapons may be used, much to the alarm of American allies.
MacArthur was removed from command by President Harry S. Truman in 1951. The reasons for this are many, and well documented. They include MacArthur meeting with Chiang Kai-shek in the role of a US diplomat. MacArthur also was wrong at Guam when President Truman asked him specifically about Chinese troop buildup near the Korean border. Furthermore, MacArthur openly critized the Commander in Chief during press conferences. He also was rude, and flippant when speaking to Truman.
The rest of the war involved little territory change and lengthy peace negotiations (which started in Kaesong on July 10 of the same year). A cease-fire established a demilitarized zone (DMZ) around the 38th parallel, which is still defended today by North Korean troops on one side and South Korean and American troops on the other. No peace treaty has yet been signed, fifty years later. Newly-elected US President Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 29, 1952 fulfilled a campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what could be done to end the conflict.
Korea was officially a police action, not a war, in US parlance. 600,000 Koreans had died and perhaps a million Chinese. US troops suffered about 50,000 fatalities, roughly equal to the Vietnam conflict, but in a much shorter time. Later neglect of remembrance of this war, in favor of the Vietnam War, World War I and II, has caused the Korean War to be called the Forgotten War or the Unknown War.
The war was instrumental in re-energising the US military-industrial complex from their post-war slump. The defense budget was boosted to $50 billion, the Army was doubled in size, as was the number of Air Groups, and they were deployed beyond American soil in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia, including Vietnam, where covert aid to the French was made overt. The Cold War became a much stronger state of mind for American policy makers.
Japan was a key beneficiary of the war. The US material requirements were organized through a Special Procurements system, which allowed for local purchasing without the complex Pentagon procurement system. Over $3.5 billion was spent with Japanese companies, peaking at $809 million in 1953, and still significant in 1955. Other foreign non-military investment was less than 5% of this. US Aid Counterpart Funds gave Japan, by 1956, the most modern shipyards in the world and a 26% share in lauched tonnage. Left-wing organizations were closed down, and the zaibatsu went from being distrusted to being encouraged - Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Sumitomo were amongst the zaibatsu that thrived, not only on orders from the military but through American industrial experts, including W. Edwards Deming. Japanese manufacturing grew by 50% between March 1950 and 1951. By 1952, pre-war standards of living were regained and output was twice the level of 1949. The 1951 peace treaty returned Japanese sovereignty (excluding Okinawa and the Ryukyu islands) and the non-belligerency clause in the constitution was being considered a "mistake" by 1953.
Korean War order of battle
On July 27, 1995 in Washington, DC, the Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated.
Artistic Depiction
Far and away the most famous artistic depiction of the war is the movie and television series M A S H, which depicts the misadventures of the staff of a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital as they struggle to keep their sanity through the war's absurdities through ribald humour and hijinks when not treating wounded.
Further reading
.
- The British Part in the Korean War, General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, HMSO, 1995, hardcover 528 pages, ISBN 0116309628
- History of United States Naval Operations: Korea, James A. Field Jr., University Press of the Pacific, 2001, paperback 520 pages, ISBN 0898756758
- translated by Bin Yu and Xiaobing Li, Mao's Generals Remember Korea, University Press of Kansas, 2001, hardcover 328 pages, ISBN 0700610952
External links
- http://www.trumanlibrary.org/wake/docs.htm
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Korean War."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The following is a list of people, places, things, and concepts related to or originating from Korea, South Korea, or North Korea. Red links are to articles that will almost certainly be added in the very near future. For help, please see Naming conventions and Note on romanization at the bottom of this page.
Index
1 - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T -U - V - W - X - Y - Z
Talk and meta pages
Other Wikimedia sites
Naming conventions
Note on romanization
1
38th parallel - 88 Olympic Expressway - 1988 Summer Olympics - 2002 World Cup: see Football World Cup 2002
A
Administrative divisions of Korea - Amnok River - An Jung-geun - Arirang - Asian financial crisis - Asian Theatre of World War II - Asiana Airlines
Baduk: see Go (board game) - Baekje - Barhae - Battle of Yalu River (1894) - Battle of Sarhu - Battle of Yalu River (1904) - Buddhism: see Korean Buddhism) - Bulguksa - Busan - Buyeo (County) - Buyeo (Kingdom)
Leonard Chang - Changbaek Mountains - Changwon - Cheongju - Margaret Cho - Hee Seop Choi - Choi Sejin - Ch'ŏngjin - Chosun Ilbo - Chuncheon - Chung Mong-hun - Chungbuk Line - Chungcheong - Chungmu: see Yi Sun-sin
Cities of Korea: see List of cities in North Korea, List of cities in South Korea, and Special cities of Korea
Classical Chinese - Comfort women - Communications in North Korea - Communications in South Korea - Confucianism: see Korean Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism - Contemporary culture of South Korea - Courtesy name - Culture of Korea - Culture of North Korea
Daegu - Daejeon - Daewoo - Daifang Commandery - Dangun - Democratic People's Republic of Korea: see North Korea - Demographics of North Korea - Demographics of South Korea - Dispute over the name Sea of Japan - Division of Korea - DMZ: see Korean Demilitarized Zone - Do - Dongguk Tonggam - Donghae Bukbu Line - Donghae Nambu Line
E
East Asian Tigers - Economy of North Korea - Economy of South Korea - Eight Provinces of Korea - Emperor Gojong of Korea - Emperor Sunjong of Korea - Era name
F
Flag of North Korea - Flag of South Korea - Football World Cup 2002 - Foreign relations of North Korea - Foreign relations of South Korea
Gabo Reform - Gang Hong-rip - Gangneung - Gangwon - Gayasan - Generation name - Geography of North Korea - Geography of South Korea - Geum River - Gihwa - Gija - Gija Joseon - Gimhae International Airport - Gimpo - Gimpo Airport - Gimpo Line - Gobukseon: see Ironclad warship#Premodern Ironclads - Goguryeo - Gojoseon - Gongju - Goryeo - Goryeo Dynasty - Guma Expressway - Gunsan - Gwanbuk - Gwandong - Gwanghaegun of Joseon - Gwangju - Gwannam - Gwanseo - Gyeongbu - Gyeongbu Expressway - Gyeongbu Line - Gyeongbuk Line - Gyeongchun Line - Gyeonggi - Gyeongin - Gyeongin Expressway - Gyeongin Line - Gyeongjeon Line - Gyeongju - Gyeongsang - Gyeongseong - Gyeongui Line - Gyeongwon Line
H
Haeinsa - Seok-heon Ham - Hamgyŏng - Han - Han River - Hangeul - Hangul consonant tables - Hangul Day - Hanja (see also Chinese character) - History of Korea: see Korea - History of North Korea - History of South Korea - Honam - Honam Expressway - Honam Line - Hong Bok-won - Hoseo - Hunmin jeong'eum (document) - Hunmin jeong'eum haerye - Hwaeom - Hwanghae - Hwanin - Hwarang - Hyundai - Hyundai Motor Company
I
Iksan - Im Kwontaek - IMF Crisis: see Asian financial crisis - Incheon - Incheon International Airport - ISO 3166-2:KP - ISO 3166-2:KR - Ito Hirobumi
Jaebeol: see South Korean conglomerates - Janghang Line - Japanese Colonial Period - Jeju - Jeolla - Jeolla Line - Jeonju - Jinhae - Jinul - Joseon - Joseon Dynasty - Ju Si-gyeong - Juche - Jungang Expressway - Jungang Line - Jungbu Expressway
Kaesŏng - KBS - Keijo - Kia Motors - Kim (Korean name) - Kimchi - Kim Dae-jung - Kim Il-sung - Kim Jong-il - Kim Mihyun - Kim Young-sam - Kimjongilia
Kings: see also Rulers of Korea - King Gojong of Joseon: see Emperor Gojong of Korea - King Muryeong of Baekje - King Sejong the Great of Joseon - King Sunjong of Joseon: see Emperor Sunjong of Korea
Konglish
Korea - Korea Bay - Korea nobility - Korean Air - Korean Air Flight KAL-007 - Korean American - Korean Buddhism - Korean Buddhist temples - Korean cinema - Korean Confucianism - Korean cuisine - Korean Demilitarized Zone - Korean Empire - Korean era names - Korean-Japanese disputes - Korean mythology - Korean name - Korean language - Korean National Railroad - Korean parts of speech - Korean Shamanism - Korean television - Korean War - Korean Workers' Party - Koreans
Kŭmgang-san - Kŭmgang-san Line
L
Lee (Korean name) - Lee Changdong - Lelang Commandery - LG - List of cities in North Korea - List of cities in South Korea - List of famous Korean Americans - List of Koreans - List of mountains in Korea - List of universities in South Korea
M
Douglas MacArthur - March 1st Movement - MBC - McCune-Reischauer - Military of North Korea - Military of South Korea - Mokpo - Sun Myung Moon - Music of Korea
Naju - Nakdong River - Nam Sung-yong - Names of Korea - Namhae Expressway - Namp'o - Neo-Confucianism - New Community Movement - Noraebang: see Karaoke#South Korea - North Chungcheong - North Gyeongsang - North Hamgyŏng - North Hwanghae - North Jeolla
North Korea - North Korea nuclear weapons program
North P'yŏngan
O
Paektu Mountain - Nam June Paik - Panmunjeom (P'anmunjŏm) - Pansori - Park Chunghee - PC bang - Pohang - Politics of North Korea - Politics of South Korea - Posthumous name - Presidents of South Korea - Provinces of Korea (see also Eight Provinces of Korea) - Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea - P'yŏngan - P'yŏngbu Line - P'yŏngnam Line - P'yŏngŭi Line - P'yŏngwŏn Line - P'yŏngyang
Q
Qi Empress
Queens: see also Rulers of Korea - Queen Min of Joseon
Rasŏn (Rajin-Sŏnbong) - Regions of Korea - Republic of Korea: see South Korea - Revised Romanization of Korean - Rhee (family name): see Lee (Korean name) - Syngman Rhee - Roads and Expressways in South Korea - Roh Moo-Hyun - Roh Tae-woo - Rulers of Korea - Russo-Japanese War
S
Sabi - Saemaeul Movement: see New Community Movement - Sambyeolcho Rebellion - Samguk Sagi - Samguk Yusa - Samil Movement: see March 1st Movement - Samjeondo Monument - Samsung - Samuel E. Martin - SBS - Sea of Japan - Seohaean Expressway - Seokguram - Seon - Seoul - Seoul Metropolitan Subway - Shinmiyangyo - Shinŭiju - Silla - Sin Saimdang - Shamanism: see Korean Shamanism - Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) - Sino-Korean - Sohn Kee-chung - Songgwangsa - South Chungcheong - South Gyeongsang - South Hamgyŏng - South Hwanghae - South Jeolla
South Korea - South Korean conglomerates
South Manchuria Railway - South P'yŏngan - Special cities of Korea - Suin Line - Suwon
Taedong River - Taekwondo - Temple name - Three Jewel Temples of Korea - Three Kingdoms of Korea - Toegye: see Yi Hwang - Tongbulgyo - Toyotomi Hideyoshi - Traditional Korean thought - Transportation in North Korea - Transportation in South Korea - Treaty of Shimonoseki - Tripitaka Koreana - Tuman (Tumen) River - Turtle ship: see Ironclad warship#Premodern Ironclads
U
Uisang - Ulsan - Ungjin - Unification Church
V
W
Wang - Wang Go - Weonhyo - Wiman - Wiman Joseon - Won
X
Y
Yalu River - Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture - Yeombul: see Nianfo - Yeongdong - Yeongdong Expressway - Yeongdong Line - Yeongnam - Yeongseo - Yi (family name): see Lee (Korean name) - Yi Dynasty: see Joseon Dynasty - Yi Hwang - Yi I - Yi Jachun - Yi Sun-sin - Yulgok: see Yi I
Z
Talk and meta pages
- Talk:Korea
- Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Korean)
- Wikipedia:Wikipedians/Korea
- Wikipedia:Wikipedians/South Korea
Other Wikimedia sites
Naming conventions
People are always alphabetized by their family name, regardless of whether the person concerned puts his/her family name first or last. If it is unclear which is the family name and which the given name (for example, Nam June Paik, since Nam and Paik are both family names and there's no telltale hyphen in the name) please check under both names.
Monarchs are listed in the following format:
For example: Queen Seondeok of Silla; King Sejong the Great of Joseon; Emperor Gojong of Korea.
- Title Name of Kingdom
For more on this subject, please see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Korean).
Note on romanization
North Korean place names use McCune-Reischauer Romanization (except that ŏ and ŭ are not used in article titles, although they are shown on this page), while South Korean place names use the Revised Romanization of Korean. Personal and corporate names (Syngman Rhee; Samsung) are generally romanized according to the nameholder's preference, or to the spelling most frequently encountered in English. If there is no dominant English spelling, Revised Romanization is to be preferred, but see also Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Korean).
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "List of Korea-related topics."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Republic of Korea (ROK for short; Daehan Min-guk (대한 민국 大韓民國) in Korean) is a country in East Asia, covering the southern half of the peninsula of Korea.
To the north it borders North Korea with which it formed a single nation until 1948, while Japan lies across the East Sea (Sea of Japan; see Notice on Talk page) and Korea Strait to the southeast. The Korean name of the country means "Great Han Republic," and comes from Daehan Jeguk (대한 제국; 大韓帝國; "Great Han Empire"), the official name of Korea from the 1890s until the Japanese occupation of Korea. The country is commonly called Namhan (남한; 南韓; "South Han") in South Korea and Namchosŏn (남조선; 南朝鮮; "South Chosŏn" (McCune-Reischauer (MR))/"South Joseon" (Revised Romanization (RR))) in North Korea.
대한민국 / 大韓民國
Daehan Min-guk
(In Detail) National motto: None Official language Korean Capital Seoul President Roh Moo-hyun Prime minister Goh Kun Area
- Total
- % waterRanked 107th
99,274 km²
0.3%Population
- Total (2002)
- DensityRanked 25th
48,324,000
491/km²Independence
- DateJapan is defeated in World War II - Korea regains autonomy
August 13, 1948Currency Won Time zone UTC +9 National anthem Aegukga Internet TLD .KR Calling Code 82
History
Main articles: History of Korea, History of South Korea, Rulers of KoreaAfter the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was involuntarily divided-up into two zones of influence by the world's super powers, followed in 1948 by two matching governments: a communist North and a United States-influenced South. In June 1950, the North invaded the South igniting the Korean War. The United Nations-backed South and the Chinese-backed North eventually reached a stalemate and an armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a demilitarised zone at about the 38th parallel, which had been the original demarcation line.
Thereafter, the southern Republic of Korea achieved rapid economic growth, while autocratic governments and civil unrest dominated politics until protests succeeded in starting democratic reforms. A potential Korean reunification has remained a prominent topic; no peace treaty has yet been signed with the North. In June 2000, a historic first North-South summit took place, part of the South's continuing "Sunshine Policy" of engagement, despite recent concerns over the North's nuclear weapons programme.
Politics
Main article: Politics of South KoreaHead of state of the republic of Korea is the president, who is elected by direct popular vote for a single five-year term. In addition to being the highest representative of the republic and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the president also has considerable executive powers and appoints the prime minister with approval of parliament, as well as appointing and presiding over the State Council or cabinet.
The unicameral Korean parliament is the National Assembly or Kukhoe, whose members serve a four-year term of office. The legislature currently has 273 seats, of which 227 are elected by popular vote and the remainder are distributed proportionately among parties winning five seats or more. This system, possibly along with the number of seats, will be revised starting in 2004. The highest judiciary body is the Supreme Court, whose justices are appointed by the president with the consent of parliament.
Provinces and Cities
Main article: Administrative divisions of Korea. For historical information, see Provinces of Korea and Special cities of Korea.
South Korea consists of 9 Provinces (do, singular and plural; 도 道), 1 Special City (Teukbyeolsi; 특별시; 特別市), and 6 Metropolitan Cities (Gwangyeoksi, singular and plural; 광역시; 廣域市):
- Busan Gwangyeoksi (부산 광역시; 釜山廣域市)
- North Chungcheong (Chungcheongbuk-do; 충청 북도; 忠清北道)
- South Chungcheong (Chungcheongnam-do; 충청 남도; 忠清南道)
- Daegu Gwangyeoksi (대구 광역시; 大邱廣域市)
- Daejeon Gwangyeoksi (대전 광역시; 大田廣域市)
- Gangwon-do (강원도; 江原道)
- Gwangju Gwangyeoksi (광주 광역시; 光州廣域市)
- Gyeonggi-do (경기도; 京畿道)
- North Gyeongsang (Gyeongsangbuk-do; 경상 북도; 慶尚北道)
- South Gyeongsang (Gyeongsangnam-do; 경상 남도; 慶尚南道)
- Incheon Gwangyeoksi (인천 광역시; 仁川廣域市)
- Jeju-do (제주도; 濟州道)
- North Jeolla (Jeollabuk-do; 전라 북도; 全羅北道)
- South Jeolla (Jeollanam-do; 전라 남도; 全羅南道)
- Seoul Teukbyeolsi (서울 특별시; 漢城特別市)
- Ulsan Gwangyeoksi (울산 광역시; 蔚山廣域市)
Geography
Main article: Geography of South Korea; Regions of KoreaKorea forms a peninsula that extends some 1,100 km from the Asian mainland, flanked by the Yellow Sea to the west and the East Sea/Sea of Japan (see Notice on Talk page) to the east, and terminated by the Korea Strait and the East China Sea to the south. According to Koreans, Japan never returned back the name of Sea of Korea/Corea which had been used throughout 18th/19th century western maps after being defeated in World War II.
The southern landscape consists of partially forested mountain ranges to the east, separated by deep, narrow valleys. Densely populated and cultivated coastal plains are found in the west and south.
The local climate is relatively temperate, with precipitation heavier in summer during a short rainy season called jangma, and winters that can be bitterly cold on occasion. South Korea's capital and largest city is Seoul in the northwest, other major cities include nearby Incheon, central Daejeon, Gwangju in the southwest and Daegu and Busan in the southeast.
Economy
Main article: Economy of South KoreaAs one of the four East Asian Tigers, South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world economy. Three decades ago GDP per capita was comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. Today its GDP per capita is roughly 20 times North Korea's and equal to the lesser economies of the European Union.
This success through the late 1980s was achieved by a system of close government/business ties, including directed credit, import restrictions, sponsorship of specific industries, and a strong labour effort. The government promoted the import of raw materials and technology at the expense of consumer goods and encouraged savings and investment over consumption. The Asian financial crisis of 1997 exposed longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's development model, including high debt/equity ratios, massive foreign borrowing, and an undisciplined financial sector.
Growth plunged by 6.6% in 1998, then strongly recovered to 10.8% in 1999 and 9.2% in 2000. Growth fell back to 3.3% in 2001 because of the slowing global economy, falling exports, and the perception that much-needed corporate and financial reforms have stalled. Led by industry and construction, growth in 2002 was an impressive 5.8%, despited anemic global growth.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of South KoreaKorea's population is one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogenous in the world, with the only minority being a small Chinese community. Koreans have lived in Manchuria for many centuries, who are now a minority in China, and Joseph Stalin sent thousands of Koreans, against their will, to Central Asia (in the former U.S.S.R) from Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, while the majority of Korean population in Japan moved there during the colonial period.
Political, social and economic instability in South Korea have driven many South Koreans to emigrate to foreign countries, amongst which the friendship, freedom and opportunities provided by the United States and Canada render popularity.
The city of Seoul is the most populated single city (excluding greater metropolitan areas) in the world. Its density has allowed it to become one of the most "digitally-wired" cities in today's globally connected ecomony.
The Korean language is a member of a wider linguistic family of the Altaic languages. The Korean writing system, Hangeul, was invented in 1446 by King Sejong the Great to widely spread education - as Chinese characters were thought to be too difficult and time consuming for a common person to learn - through the Royal proclamation of Hoonminjungeum [훈민정음/訓民正音)] which literally means the "proper sounds to teach the general public." It is different from the Chinese form of written communication as it is phonetically based.
Numerous underlying words still stem from Hanja and older people in Korea still prefer to write words in Hanja, as they were strictly forbidden to study and speak the Korean language when Japan ruled. Koreans are the only people in the world who fully understand how, when and why their written language was created through the transcripts of King Sejong's innovative contribution.
In 2000 the government decided to introduce a new romanisation system, which this article also uses. English is taught as a second language in most primary and intermediate schools. Those students in high school are also taught 2 years of either Chinese, Japanese, French, German or Spanish as an elective course.
Christianity (49%) and Buddhism (47%) comprise South Korea's two dominant religions. Though only 3% identified themselves as Confucianists, Korean society remains highly imbued with Confucian values and beliefs. The remaining 1% of the population practice Shamanism (traditional spirit worship) and Cheondogyo ("Heavenly Way"), a traditional religion.
Holidays Date English Name Local Name Remarks January 1 New Year's Day January 1 (Lunar) Lunar New Year's Day Seollal 설날 Usually in early February March 1 Independence Movement Day Samil Jeol 3.1절 To commemorate a nation-wide independence movement which took place in 1919 in protest against Japan's immoral colonisation April 5 Arbor Day Singmogil 식목일 May 5 Children's Day Eorininal 어린이날 April 8 (Lunar) Buddha's Birthday Bucheonim Osinnal 부처님오신날 Usually in late May June 6 Memorial Day Hyeonchung-il 현충일 July 17 Constitution Day Jehyeonjeol 제현절 The first Constitution proclaimed in 1948 August 15 Indepedence Day Gwangbokjeol 광복절 Independence from Japanese Colonisation in 1945 August 15 (Lunar) Thanks Giving Day Chuseok 추석 Usually in late September October 3 National Foundation Day Gaecheonjeol 개천절 December 25 Christmas
Miscellaneous topics
- List of Korea-related topics
- Communications in South Korea
- Transportation in South Korea
- Military of South Korea
- Foreign relations of South Korea
- Cities of South Korea
- Roads and Expressways in South Korea
External Links
- Korea.net - Official ROK portal
- Cheong Wa Dae - Official presidential site
- Kukhoe - Official parliamentary site
- Korea National Statistical Office
- SinoKorea - Korea Fan Workroom(China)
- Korea News
Countries of the world | Asia Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "South Korea."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| KOR | English | Korea | Geography |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: KoreaSynonyms: Choson (n), Korean Peninsula (n). (additional references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | You will not live to see the day when Korea is controlled by the north (Die Another Day; writing credit: Neal Purvis) Ladies and gentlemen, I've was at 'Nam, Korea and Kuwait, and I can say without fear of hyperbole that this is a million times worse than all of them put together (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) | |
Lyrics | North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe (We Didn't Start The Fire; performing artist: Billy Joel) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Djali nga Korea (1963) Korea (1959) A Hill in Korea (1956) After the War Korea (1954) Mission Over Korea (1953) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References |
| ||
Books | |||
Periodicals | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
| ||
High Tech |
| ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Staff Sgt. Hale Lewis, crew chief, works inside the exhaust of a F-16C/D Nov. 12, 2002. He is with the 35th Fighter Squadron, Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. Lewis is taking part in this year's Exercise Keen Sword 03 being held in Tsuiki Air Base, Japan. |  | An F-16 jet fighter, 35 fighter Squadron, from Kunsan Air Base, Korea, takes off from Tsuiki AB, Japan, to engage Japanese jet fighters in an aerial training exercise in support of Keen Sword 03 on Nov. 12, 2002. Keen Sword is a bilateral defense exercis. |
 | Unloading wheat in Korea. Credit: USDA. |  | U.S. Army Evacuation Hospital No.21, Pusan, Korea : Patient receives personal attention as 100,000th to be admitted. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Crewmen load a "Hedgehog" anti-submarine mortar, while on duty in Inchon Harbor, South Korea. Photo is dated 21 December 1950. Apnok, the former USS Rockford (PF-48), had been transferred to the ROK Navy in October 1950. Note striped armbands worn by some of these men. Credit: NAVY. |  | USS Merganser (AMS-26) tied up to USS Conserver (ARS-39) in Wonsan Harbor, Korea. Photographed by AFAN W.C. Newbill. The original photo is dated 23 October 1950. Note navigation bouy on Conserver's after deck and ships in background, including another AMS and a high-speed minesweeper (DMS). Credit: NAVY. |
 | Korea -- war lesson no. 1: Victory still is measured by the foot!. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Four Red Cross technicians testing samples of blood, donated by Bell Aircraft employees, to be sent to Korea for use by wounded troops, Buffalo, N.Y. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Scene along the banks of the Han River of Korea, with the junks that are the commerce carriers of the country. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Travel views of Japan and Korea. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Endemic areas are in Asia including Korea, China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. (references) | |
A formalin-inactivated vaccine prepared in mice is used widely in Japan, China, India, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. (references) | ||
Hantaan virus from Korea and Dobrava virus from Slovenia are associated with a severe form of HFRS characterized by renal failure that can precede pulmonary edema and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), with estimated mortality rates of 5% to 15%. A moderate form of HFRS caused by Seoul virus (which, along with its host, is distributed worldwide) is responsible for thousands of Eurasian cases annually. (references) | ||
Business | Korea is a country of 47 million people. (references) | |
Discount store sales in Korea are booming. (references) | ||
Korea produces FDDs for both local consumption and export. (references) | ||
Children | Korea | In 1997 a senior UNICEF official said that approximately 80,000 children in North Korea were in immediate danger of dying from hunger and disease; 800,000 more were suffering from malnutrition to a serious but lesser degree. (references) |
Civil Liberties | Korea | There is wide reporting on North Korea and North-South issues in the media. (references) |
Korea | Foreign travel generally is unrestricted; however, the Government must approve travel to North Korea. (references) | |
Economic History | Korea | Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry Bldg. (references) |
Panama | The main competitors are Japan, Korea and Taiwan. (references) | |
North Korea | These figures do not include trade with South Korea. (references) | |
Human Rights | Korea | As many as 20 Japanese may have been kidnapped and detained in North Korea. (references) |
Korea | This missionary subsequently appeared publicly in North Korea and was portrayed as a defector. (references) | |
Korea | Visitors to North Korea report observing prisoners being marched in leg irons, metal collars, or shackles. (references) | |
Minorities | Korea | Thus ethnic Chinese born and resident in Korea obtain citizenship only with great difficulty. (references) |
Political Economy | REPUBLIC OF KOREA | Korea joined the Berne Convention in August 1996. (references) |
CHILE | Similar discussions are also underway with South Korea and Singapore. (references) | |
Trade | Burma | The country of origin on imports cannot be North Korea or Taiwan. (references) |
Korea | The Masan Free Trade Zone is located near Busan in southern Korea. (references) | |
Korea | Goods entering Korea for exhibition purposes must be stored in a bonded area. (references) | |
Travel | Korea | It is relatively easy to get to Korea from the United States. (references) |
Korea | Application must be made to the Korean Ministry of Justice from outside Korea. (references) | |
Korea | When visiting Korea on business, it is best to reserve your room well in advance. (references) | |
Women | Japan | As of November 21, the AWF had collected donations totaling approximately $4.33 million (548 million yen) and given lump sum payments of almost $2.97 million (376 million yen) and a letter of apology signed by the Prime Minister to more than 188 women from the Philippines, Korea, and Taiwan. (references) |
Worker Rights | Indonesia | Host countries include Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea, and the Persian Gulf states. (references) |
Japan | Illegal immigrants come primarily from South Korea, the Philippines, China, Thailand, and Malaysia. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Al Hunt | General, you and Secretary Rumsfeld in recent days have spoken frequently about the increasingly bad behavior of Iraq and of Iran. You were asked a question about North Korea the other day, and you said basically not much has changed there. |
Bob Woodward | To the United States. To, as he kept saying, the neighborhood in the Middle East. And, to a certain extent, to everyone. And they've been working on this a year. The problem in North Korea at least came to a head, really, in the last four, five months. |
George Will | We don't have a declared war, but we didn't have a declared war in Korea. That was a war. We didn't have a declared war in Vietnam and we have a Vietnam War memorial. |
Rush Limbaugh | North Korea is starving, so they're using their nuclear program to get attention and food and oil. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Dwight Eisenhower | 1953-1961 | Seeking to secure peace in the world, we have had to fight through the forests of the Argonne, to the shores of Iwo Jima, and to the cold mountains of Korea. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | Imagine how different Asia might be today if we had failed to act when the Communist army of North Korea marched south. |
Richard Nixon | 1969-1974 | In Korea and again in Vietnam, the United States furnished most of the money, most of the arms, and most of the men to help the people of those countries defend their freedom against Communist aggression. |
Gerald Ford | 1974-1977 | My recent discussions with the leaders of the Atlantic community, Japan, and South Korea have contributed to meeting the common challenge. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | We have maintained our alliance with Korea and helped assure Korea's security during a difficult period of political transition. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | I have witnessed the bloody futility of two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | North Korea has now frozen its dangerous nuclear weapons program. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Korea" is generally used as a noun (proper) -- approximately 99.75% of the time. "Korea" is used about 1,617 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (proper) | 99.75% | 1,613 | 5,149 |
| Noun (singular) | 0.19% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Noun (common) | 0.06% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,617 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| South Korea | Aluminium of Korea |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
1. Korea, KY |
Expressions using "Korea": capital of North Korea ♦ capital of South Korea ♦ democratic People's Republic of Korea ♦ Korea Strait ♦ Korea Tobacco and Ginseng Corporation ♦ north korea ♦ Republic of Korea ♦ south korea. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "Korea": Korea-based, Korea-china, korea-japan, korea-soviet, Korea-united. | |
Ending with "Korea": inter-korea, Iraq-korea, K-korea. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
seoul south korea | 4,490 | cheju korea south | 145 |
korea | 3,279 | korea miss | 126 |
north korea | 2,809 | korea kwangju south | 115 |
south korea | 2,148 | korea news | 113 |
korea south ulsan | 1,457 | hotel of north korea | 112 |
yahoo korea | 815 | korea herald | 110 |
korea sex | 713 | korea pohang south | 100 |
pusan south korea | 582 | korea kunsan south | 92 |
taejon south korea | 463 | korea travel | 90 |
korea map | 406 | korea msn | 77 |
south korea hotel | 363 | korea war | 76 |
korea south suwon | 259 | korea masan south | 73 |
taegu south korea | 246 | korea weather | 72 |
south korea map | 219 | changwon korea south | 71 |
korea osan south | 181 | korea hotel | 67 |
korea times | 172 | korea airline | 67 |
inchon korea south | 169 | korea history | 65 |
chonju korea south | 158 | dmz korea | 64 |
seoul korea | 152 | north korea news | 63 |
korea north pyongyang | 151 | korea girl | 63 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "Korea"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | korea e jugut (south korea). (various references) | |
Arabic | كوريا. (various references) | |
Asturian | Corea. (various references) | |
Chinese | 韩国, "國 (Korean), 麗 (beautiful), 朝鮮 . (various references) | |
Czech | Korea. (various references) | |
Danish | KR (Republic of Korea, South Korea), KP (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea), Sydkorea (Republic of Korea, South Korea, The Republic of Korea), Republikken Korea (Republic of Korea, South Korea, The Republic of Korea), Nordkorea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea), Den Demokratiske Folkerepublik Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea). (various references) | |
Dutch | Korea. (various references) | |
Esperanto | Koreujo. (various references) | |
Finnish | KR (Republic of Korea, South Korea), KP (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea), Korean tasavalta (Republic of Korea, South Korea), Korean demokraattinen kansantasavalta (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea), pohjoiskorealainen (inhabitant of North Korea, North Korean). (various references) | |
French | Corée (korean). (various references) | |
German | Korea. (various references) | |
Greek | ίορέα. (various references) | |
Hungarian | korea. (various references) | |
Irish | An Chóiré. (various references) | |
Italian | Corea (chorea). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | "国 , 朝鮮 , コミュニケーション科学基礎 "究所 (choral, collaboration, collaborative, collaborator, collage, collagen, collie, column, columnist, COM, COMECON, comedian, comedy, comet, Cominform, comment, commentator, comment-out, committee, common, common carrier, common language, common sense, Commonwealth Day, communicate, Communication Science Laboratories, communications intelligence, communications satellite, communicator, communism, communist, Communist Information Bureau, community, community care, community center, community college, community media, community paper, community school, community sports, computer output microfilm system, comsat, corrida, corundum, Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, Komintern, Komsomol, operator in a telemarketing business, stand-alone feature article framed by a box), 三" . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | さ"か" (among the mountains, broad daylight, inspection, visit), か""く (advice, cold country or region, counsel, recommendation, remonstrance), コリア , ちょうせ" (catgut, challenge, defiance, sheepgut). (various references) | |
Korean | 한국 (Korean). (various references) | |
Macedonian | Koreja. (various references) | |
Papiamen | Korea. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | oreakay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | Coreia (chorea), Coréia (chorea). (various references) | |
Provencal | Corèa. (various references) | |
Ruanda | Coree. (various references) | |
Russian | Корея, корея. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | koreja. (various references) | |
Spanish | Corea (chorea). (various references) | |
Swedish | Korea. (various references) | |
Tagalog | Koreá. (various references) | |
Thai | เกาหลี, ประเทศเกาหลี. (various references) | |
Turkish | Kore. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | Корея. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"Korea" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Coprefa, Goreau, Kerem, Kibria, Kirya, Kolega, Kooee, Kootenay, Kopriva, Kori, Kornai, Kornei, Koroda, korsa, Koryak, Kotra, Kreka, Kroupa, Kukreja, Kuresa, Kuriwa, Morveau, skorea. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-k-o-r" | |
-1 letter: aero, kore, okra, rake. | |
-2 letters: are, ark, ear, era, kae, kea, koa, kor, oak, oar, oka, oke, ora, ore, roe. | |
-3 letters: ae, ar, er, ka, oe, or, re. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-k-o-r" | |
+1 letter: arkose, resoak, soaker. | |
+2 letters: arkoses, brokage, comaker, corkage, croaked, croaker, earlock, forsake, karaoke, oarlike, presoak, rakeoff, reawoke, resoaks, soakers, troaked. | |
+3 letters: beadwork, breakout, brockage, brokages, capework, caretook, casework, comakers, cookware, corkages, corncake, croakers, croakier, darksome, earlocks, ecofreak, forepeak, forerank, forsaken, forsaker, forsakes, freakout, grosbeak, havocker, headwork, jackeroo, karaokes, karosses, keratoid, keratoma, keratose, keyboard, lacework, lakeport, larksome, laverock, leadwork, makeover, outbreak, overbake, overrank, oversoak, overtake, overtalk, overtask, overweak, parroket, presoaks, rakeoffs, reaphook, reawoken, resoaked, rockabye, ropewalk, seatwork, takeover, teamwork, walkover, workable, workfare, workmate, yearbook. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Quotations: Spoken 10. Quotations: Speeches 11. Usage Frequency 12. Names: Company Usage | 13. Cities 14. Expressions 15. Expressions: Internet 16. Translations: Modern | 17. Abbreviations 18. Acronyms 19. Derivations 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
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