introduction korea

Geography

The Korean peninsula is located in the north east end of Asia. Korea shares two borders with China and Russia in the north and faces Japan in the south east. The tallest mountain in Korea is Mt. Baek Du, which is 2,744m high. The mountain is located at the northern border sharing with China. This mountain possesses a great importance for the Korean people and Korean cultural; it even appears in the Korean national anthem.
The second tallest mountain in Korea is Mt. Halla, and it is 1,950m high. There are many rivers in Korea including Han river (514km) and Nak Dong river (525km) in the south and Aprok river (790km) and Duman river (521km) in the north. Korea has relatively many rivers and streams compare to its total area. Except the north, the Korean peninsula is surrounded by 3,400 islands with the ocean in three different sides.
The Korean peninsula has its greatest length of approximately 1,000 km. And, the total area of the country is 222,154 squared km. It is about the same size with England and a little larger than Portugal. (South Korea – 99,392 sq. km; North Korea – 122,762 sq. km) Except some plains in the south, mountains occupy up to 70% of the total area of South Korea. Mountains get flattened to plains along the south and west seas.

Population

The population of South Korea is 47,278,951 based on the statistics of 2005. South Korea is composed administratively of 9 states (Geong Gi Do, Gang Won Do, Choong Chung Buk Do, Choong Chung Nam Do, Jolla Buk Do, Jolla Nam Do , Gyung Sang Buk Do, Gyung Sang Nam Do and Jeju Do), 1 special city (Seoul), and 6 metropolitan cities (Busan, Daegu, Inchon, Gwangju, Daejun and Ulsan). The capital city, Seoul is divided into 9 different districts.

Weather

The Korean peninsula is located between 33 degrees and 43 degrees of the north latitude as it is at the north end of the Eurasia Continent. Since the Tae Baek family of mountains is standing as the back bone of the land, the Korean weather is very dynamic despite of the small size of the land. The land is in the temperate zone and it has 4 distinct seasons. It also possesses various geographical features. Even though the Korean weather resembles the continental climate in general, it experiences a monsoon climate in summer. It is very cold and dry in winter influenced by the Siberian air mass. The rainy season starts in late June. The heavy rains in the season often result in disasters as loss of people and property damages. It is very hot and wet in July and August because of the Pacific oceanic high pressure. Although spring and fall last a short period of time relative to summer and winter, those seasons show distinct climatic patterns and serene weather with blue sky in general.

Spring

Serene weather with some dryness in general. Temperature ranges between 16 ℃ and 19 ℃ in May.

Summer

Hot and wet. Temperature ranges between 23℃ and 27℃ in August. Daily highest temperature is above 30℃. Usually 2 to 3 typhoons hit Korea in the season. 50% to 60% of total yearly amount of rainfalls in the season. Monsoon season starts in June and it lasts for approximately 30 days. High humidity in July and August.

Fall

Little colder than spring. Serene and dry weather in general. Temperature ranges from 11 ℃ to 19℃ in October.

Winter

Cold and dry. January is the coldest month of the year. Temperature ranges from -6 ℃ to 7℃ in January. Snow mostly falls in mountain areas and less snow in cities.

Korean Alphabets - Hangul

In 1443, the Emperor Sejong invented a new language to communicate clearly and precisely. Originally, Hunminjungum or“The Right Sounds for Education of the Citizens”was composed of speakable letters for the citizens to learn easily and to represent their thoughts freely. It was also called “Hangul”, and it was the unique language in human history, which had documented evidences of the invented date, the name of the inventor and all the developmental courses. Also, this language was developed autonomously without any influences, and the language eventually became the national language. Hangul contributed great impact to the development of the Korean literature.

Buddhism

Buddhism was first introduced in Korea under the power of the King Sosurim of Goguryeo dynasty around 4th century in AD 372. Eventually, Buddhism got spread in Baekje and Silla as well. At that time, the Korean peninsula was divided into 3 different countries: Goguryeo, Baekje and Shilla. Bulguksa (Buddhist temple) and Sukgulam were built in the Unified Shilla era, and they were added in the World Cultural Heritage List. Buddhism strongly influenced the development of the Korean culture. There were many Buddhism related cultural properties including buildings, sculptures, paints and crafted products in Korea.

Confucianism

Confucianism became the national philosophy of ancient Korea. When Confucianism met the needs of Korean cultural thoughts, it created the essential reformation and contributed great impact for the Korean people. It set up the standards of Korean moral states, life styles and became the essential ideas for establishing laws. It became the core philosophy of the Chosun dynasty era and stimulated the evolution of practical science and studies.

Christianity and Catholic Church

The Christianity was introduced in Korea in 1882 with the Treaty between Korea and US. At first, Christianity got oppressed because it differed from the traditional Korean thoughts in many ways. But, the Korean people eventually accepted the religion because Christians played an important role to oppose the Japan’s power over Korea and it built and ran many schools for the education of the Korean people. The Catholic Church got introduced in Korea for bringing the European science. The first Korean priest were baptized in Beijing and returned to Korea to do missionary works. There are more than 2 million catholic people in Korea.

Shamanism

Shamanism influenced the Korean life styles in various ways. Shamanism could be considered to be the ethnic religion from ancient times. It was separate from Buddhism, and it practiced religious ceremonies for gods. One of the very interesting aspects of shamanism is that people seek to find solutions for their problems by asking to the person who has a connection with god in Shamanism. Such demand is practiced in various ways of rituals even for nowadays.

Dawning of the Establishment of the Country

Although the first kingdom of Korea, Gochosun was established in BC 2333, there were evidences of human lives in the Korean peninsula even several centuries before Gochosun.

3 Countries Era and Unified Shilla Era

The 3 countries (Goguryeo, Baekje, Shilla) era started in BC 57 and continued until AD 668. Among the three, Goguryeo was established first and it occupied the largest land in the Korean peninsula. Baekje and Shilla ruled over the middle and southern part of the peninsula. After Goguryeo, Balhae ruled over the great land of Goguryeo from the northern part of the peninsula up to Manchuria for 230 years.

Korea Era

Korea was established in 918. The title “Korea” also evolved at this time as Europeans acknowledged the country and started calling it “Korea”. The most famous cultural properties of Korea are the Korean blue celadon porcelain and the metal type.

Chosun Era

After the collapse of Korea, Chosun was established in 1392. Chosun adopted Confucianism as the national philosophy. It enabled the country to have a strong central government based on aristocracy. The morality and governing principles based on the Confucian codes of conduct were even influenced and applied into each individual large family unit to strengthen the power of the aristocracy. There were great developments in cultural aspects and scholastic achievements as the country became politically and socially stable.

Colonalization

Japan occupied Korea by force after the victory of the battle with Russia. Korea lost its sovereign power and colonized by Japan in 1910. Korea gained independence when Japan lost the 2nd world war.

Modern Korea

The first president of the country, Dr. Lee, Seung Man governed South Korea for 12 years until 1960. Despite the thirst of democracy of the Korean people, military governments ruled over South Korea for a long period of time. At the same time, there were active economic developments. After the Asian games in 1986 and the summer Olympics in 1988, Korea became internationally renowned. And, the FIFA 2002 World Cup with Japan even more contributed for the competence of Korea in the world.