SOUTH

KOREA
 South Korea ( officially the Republic
of Korea), is a country in East Asia,
constituting the southern part of
the Korean Peninsula. The
name Korea is derived from Goryeo, a
dynasty which ruled in the Middle
Ages. It shares land borders with North
Korea to the north, and oversea borders
with China to the west and Japan to the
east.

Capital: Seoul
Administrative Divisions:
9 Provinces (North and South Chungcheong,
Gangwon, Gyeonggi, North and South Gyeongsang, Jeju, North
and South Jeolla)
7 metropolitan cities:
► Busan ► Daegu ► Daejeon
► Gwangju ► Incheon ► Sejong City
► Ulsan
The Flag of South Korea, or Taegukgi is
the national flag for the Republic of
Korea. It has three parts:

 A white background which represents

peace and purity.
 a red and blue Taeguk, which is a red and
blue Taiji yin- and yang-symbol in the
center, represents the balance of
the universe
 and four black trigrams which represents
the heaven ☰(kun), earth ☷(kon), water
☵(kam), fire ☲(yi)
HISTORY OF KOREA
Monarchy Begin:

 Gojoseon by Tangun (legendary:2333

B.C)
 Three Kingdoms and Gaya (5th century)
• Goguryeo 37 B.C. - AD 668),
• Baekje (18 B.C. - AD 660),
• Silla (57 B.C.- AD 935),
• Gaya (42-562)
 Unified Silla and Balhae (8th century)
 Goryeo Dynasty (11th century)
 Joseon Dynasty (15th century)
 Korean Empire

Monarchy Ended: Sunjong (The Last Emperor:

August 29, 1910
 Tangun creation myth of Korea
Traditional myths of ancient Korea tell that over 4,000 years ago Hwanung,
the King of Heaven, descended near a Tan tree on Mt. Taebak in North Korea.
Accompanying Hwanung were 3,000 followers, and he ruled over all of their needs. In a
nearby cave lived a tiger and a bear who wished to become human. As part of the test he
gave them mugwort and garlic to eat, requiring them to live in darkness for 100 days.
After only a few days, the tiger could no longer stand it and ran out into the mountain
forests. The bear, however, stayed in the den, finally emerging as a beautiful woman.
She repeatedly prayed beneath the Tan tree for a child, and Hwanung momentarily
transformed himself to marry her. They produced a wonderful child they called Tangun.
Tangun invented the basics of civilization and created a dynasty that lasted for 1,500
years.

This was followed by a period called

Kija Choson that lasted 99 years. Tangun is
still regarded as a great culture-hero and his
memory is marked every 3rd of October on
Foundation Day. Depictions of Tangun often
show him with a tiger, which is regarded as a
mountain god.
 Over the last 2,000 years the Korean peninsula has been
wracked by eight major invasions and countless smaller wars and
incursions.
 Among the many invaders have been ancient Chinese
kingdoms, Qidans (Khitans), Mongols, Japanese, and Manchus.
 In the 20th century, Korea was colonized by Japan and in the
Post-WWII era was caught in the middle of conflicts between the United
States, the Soviet Union, and China over the expansion of
Communism in the Cold War Era – an era which still lingers in the as
yet unresolved division between North and South Korea.
KOREAN WAR

On June 25, 1950, North Korea

launched an unprovoked full-scale
invasion of the South, triggering a
three-year war which drew in U.S.,
Chinese, and other foreign forces. The
entire peninsula was devastated by the
conflict. A ceasefire was signed in
July 1953.
 Korean Culture,
Traditions and Literature
CULTURE
HANBOK

 Traditional women's hanbok consists

of jeogori, a blouse shirt or a jacket
and chima, a wrap-around skirt,
which is usually worn full.
 The ensemble is often called chima
jeogori.
 Men's hanbok consists of jeogori and
baji which means pants in Korea.
 The baji were baggy pants in traditional
men's hanbok.
 HANGEUL ( 한글 )

The Great King Yi Sejong  The Korean Alphabet

HANOK

 Korean traditional house

 The raw materials used in Hanok are
soil, timber, and rocks
 Windows and doors are made
with Hanji (traditional Korean
paper).

Traditional Korean Musical

Instruments
RELIGION in South Korea

South Korea has various types of religion

throughout the country. Over 40% of the
whole population do not believe in any
religion. The next two main religions within
the country are Buddhism(25%) and
Protestantism (Over 15%).

Heywood, P, 2008, ‘Religions of South Korea’

Classical Poetry

 Classical Korean literature has its roots in traditional folk beliefs and
folk tales of the Korean peninsula.
 There are four major traditional poetic forms: hyangga ("native
songs"); pyolgok ("special songs"), or changga ("long poems"); sijo
("current melodies"); and kasa ("verses").
Other poetic forms that flourished briefly include the kyonggi- style,
in the 14th and 15th centuries, and the akchang ("words for songs") in
the 15th century.
The most representative akchang is Yongbi och'on ka (1445–47;
Songs of Flying Dragons), a cycle compiled in praise of the founding of
the Yi dynasty.
Korean poetry originally was meant to be sung, and its forms and styles
reflect its melodic origins.
The basis of its prosody is a line of alternating groups of three or four
syllables, which is probably the most natural rhythm the language.
A typical hyangga is "the Ode for Life Eternal", or perhaps, "the Ode for Nirvana". The poem is a
song that calls upon the moon to convey the supplicant's prayer to the Western paradise, the home
of Amita (or Amitabha - the Buddha of the Western paradise). The poem's authorship is somewhat
unclear; it was either written by a monk named Gwangdeok or, onesource says, the monk's wife.

Idu Medieval Korean Modern Korean Translation

Ode to Eternal
願往生歌 원왕생가 왕생을 기원하는 노래 Life(translation by Mark
Peterson, 2006)
月下伊低赤 달하 이제 달이여 이제 Oh Moon!
서방 ( 西方 ) 넘어 As you go to the west this
西方念丁去賜里遣 서방까정 가시리고
가시려는고 night,
무량수불전 ( 無量壽佛前 ) I pray thee, go before the
無量壽佛前乃 무량수불전에
에 eternal Buddha,
And tell him that there is one
惱叱古音多可支白遣賜立 닛곰다가 살ㅂ고사서 일러서 사뢰옵소서
here
다짐 깊으신 아미타불을 Who adores Him of the deep
誓音深史隱尊衣希仰支 다짐 깊으샨 존에 울워러 우러러 oaths,
And chants daily with hands
兩手集刀花乎白良 두손 모도호살바 두 손을 모두어
together, saying
願往生願往生 원왕 생 원왕 생 왕생 ( 往生 ) 을 원하며 Oh grant me eternal life,

慕人有如白遣賜立 그럴 사람 있다 살ㅂ고사서 그리워하는

사뢰소서
사람 있다 Oh grant me eternal life,
But alas, can any of the 48
阿耶 此身遣也置古 아으 이몸 기쳐두고 아아 이 몸을 남겨 놓고
vows be kept
사십 팔 대원 ( 大願 ) While still trapped in this
四十八大願成遣賜去 사십팔대원 일고살까
이루실까 mortal frame?
 Sijo, unlike some other East Asian poetic forms, frequently employs
metaphors, puns, allusions and similar word play. Most poets follow these
guidelines very closely although there are longer examples. An exemplar is this
poem by Yun Seondo (1587–1671) :

Middle Korea Modern Korean Translation

You ask how
내 벗이 몇인가하 many friends I
니 수석과 내 벗이 몇인가하니 have? Water and
송죽이라 수석과 송죽이라
stone, bamboo
and pine.

The moon rising

동산의 오르니 동산에 달오르니 그 over the eastern
긔더옥 반갑고야 더욱 반갑도다 hill is a joyful
comrade.

Besides these five

두어라 , 이 다섯 companions, what
두어라 이다ᄉᆞᆺ
ᄉᆞᆺ
밧긔
또더야 머엇리 밖에 또 더해야 other pleasure
무엇하리
should I ask
Other forms of Classic Literature

P’ansori
 This “one-man opera” (p’ansori) featured a
single storyteller who would unroll a grass mat
as a performance space and holding a folding
fan would entertain audiences with long stories,
the musical parts accompanied by an assistant
playing an hour-glass drum (changgol).

 Gagok (long lyrical song) is a genre of

Korean traditional vocal music accompanied
by a small ensemble of Korean traditional
musical instruments. It uses sijo, Korean
traditional poetry, as lyrics, allowing us a
glimpse into the spirit of the Koreans long ago
and their appreciation of the arts.
Yi Kwangsu (1892-1950)

 wrote the first modern Korean Novel “The

Heartless”
 The story itself is about a love triangle
between the schoolteacher Yi Hyŏngshik and
two women: Yŏngch’ae who became a
Kisaeng and Sŏnhyŏng a daughter of a
minister. He eventually marries Sŏnhyŏng,
since her father had arranged and expected
this from him by allowing him to teach
English to his daughter, and also with the
hopes that they could both go to the US for
studies. The story is quasi-historical with its
setting being just before the formal
annexation of Korea.
 Honggildongjeon (Classic)

Honggildongjeon (Tales of Hong Gil-dong, the first

novel published in Hangeul) is a work of social criticism
that scathingly attacked the inequities of Joseon with its
discriminatory treatment of illegitimate offspring and its
differences based on wealth.
KOREA TODAY
President: Park Geun-hye
(2013)
Prime Minister: Chung
Hong Won (2013)
Government: Republic
Land area: 37,421 sq mi
(96,920 sq km)
Population (2012 est.):
48,860,500
Capital and largest city
(2009 est.) Seoul, 9.778
million
Other large cities: Pusan,
3.439 million; Inchon, 2.572;
Taegu, 2.458 million; Taejon
1.497 million.
Monetary unit: won
ECONOMY

 South Korea is one of the

world's wealthiest nations, and
is a member of the
Organization for Economic
Co-operation and
Development (OECD) and
the G-20 major economies.
 South Korea has a market
economy that ranks 15th in the
world by nominal GDP and
12th by purchasing power
parity (PPP).
LANDMARKS
Haeinsa Temple, Hapcheon ( 합천 해인사 )

Haeinsa is one of the three Jewel Temples in Korea.

The world's oldest intact Buddhist canon,

the Tripitaka Koreana, is carefully housed in
the 1,200-year-old Haeinsa Temple.
 Hwaseong Fortress

Hwaseong Fortress was built in the late 18th century by King

Yeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty in Suwon, South Korea. It was built to
honor and house the remains of his father, Prince Sado who was killed by
being locked alive inside a rice chest by his father, King Yeongjo because
the prince had failed to obey his fathers command to commit suicide.
 Gyeongbokgung( 경복궁 ), also known Gyeongbok Palace

It is a royal palace located in northern Seoul, South Korea.

First constructed in 1395, later burned and abandoned for almost three
centuries, and then reconstructed in 1867, it was the main and largest
palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty.
 Changdeokgung Palace

One of South Korea’s “Five Grand Palaces” built by the

kings of the Joseon Dynasty sits within a large park in Jongnu-gu,
Seoul. It is often referred to as Changdeok Palace as well as the East
Palace due to its location.
 Changgyeonggung Palace
Changgyeonggung Palace is a royal residence located in
the heart of Seoul that was built for King Taejong. In
1418, King Sejong built a royal residence for his father,
King Taejong.
 Jeju Island, also known as the "Island of the Gods," is a popular
vacation spot for Koreans and foreigners. It remains the top honeymoon
destination for Korean newlyweds, and is also regarded as one of the top
honeymoon destinations in the world.
Chocolate Museum ( 초콜릿 박물관 )

The Chocolate Museum in Seogwipo,

Jeju is the second largest chocolate
museum in the world (the largest being
the Cologne Chocolate Museum in
Germany)

Teddy Bear Museum

Lotte World is a major recreation
complex in Seoul, South Korea. It
consists of the world's largest
indoor theme park (a Guinness World
Record) which is open all year.
 Namsan locks of love, Seoul, South Korea

At Seoul’s Mt Namsan, thousands of love padlocks can be seen hanging on the fences
around the base level of N Seoul Tower. Locks of love is a custom in some cultures
where love birds would lock their padlocks at public areas and throw away the key to
symbolise that their love will be locked forever.
 Seoraksan National Park (NaeSeorak) ( 설악산국립공원 - 내설악 )

Also referred to as Seolsan and Seolbongsan, the mountain was

named Seorak ('Seol' meaning 'snow' and 'Ak' meaning 'big mountain') because
the snow would not melt for a long time keeping the rocks in a permanent state
of white.
 Ganghwa Dolmen Site [UNESCO World Heritage] ( 강화 부근리 지석묘 [
유네스코 세계문화유산 ])

Dolmens’ are stone graves/tombs which date back to the pre-historic era.
Dolmens are largely concentrated in Northeast Asia with Korea alone being home to
a total of around 30,000 dolmens.
ENTERTAINMENT
 The Korean Wave

The Korean Wave is a neologism referring to the

increase in the popularity of South Korean
culture since the late 1990s. The term was originally
coined in mid-1999 by Beijing journalists who were
surprised by China's growing appetite for South
Korean cultural exports. They subsequently referred
to this new phenomenon as "Hánliú" ( 韓流 ), which
literally means "flow of Korea".