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| Before the division | |
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Main article: History of Korea
Jikji, the first known book printed with movable metal type in 1377. Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris.
Korean history begins with the founding of Jo-seon (often known as "Gojoseon" to prevent confusion with another dynasty founded in the 14th century; the prefix Go- means 'old' or 'earlier') in 2333 BC by Dangun, according to Korean foundation mythology.[14] Gojoseon expanded until it controlled northern Korean Peninsula and some parts of Manchuria. After many conflicts with the Chinese Han Dynasty, Gojoseon disintegrated, leading to the Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea period.
In the early centuries of the Common Era, Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye, and the Samhan confederacy occupied the peninsula and southern Manchuria. Of the various states, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla grew to control the peninsula as Three Kingdoms of Korea. The unification of the Three Kingdoms by Silla in 676 led to the North South States Period, in which much of the Korean Peninsula was controlled by Unified Silla, while Balhae succeeded the northern parts of Goguryeo.
In Unified Silla, poetry and art was encouraged, and Buddhist culture thrived. Relationships between Korea and China remained relatively peaceful during this time. However, Unified Silla weakened under internal strife, and surrendered to Goryeo in 935. Balhae, Silla's neighbor to the north, was formed as a successor state to Goguryeo. During its height, Balhae controlled most of Manchuria and parts of Russian Far East. It fell to the Khitan in 926.
The peninsula was united by Emperor Taejo of Goryeo in 936. Like Silla, Goryeo was a highly cultural state and created the Jikji in 1377, using the world's oldest movable metal type printing press.[15] The Mongol invasions in the 13th century greatly weakened Goryeo. After nearly 30 years of war, Goryeo continued to rule Korea, though as a tributary ally to the Mongols. After the Mongolian Empire collapsed, severe political strife followed and the Goryeo Dynasty was replaced by the Joseon Dynasty in 1388 following a rebellion by General Yi Seong-gye.
Gyeongbok Palace is the largest of the Five Grand Palaces built during the Joseon Dynasty.
King Taejo declared the new name of Korea as "Joseon" in reference to Gojoseon, and moved the capital to Seoul. The first 200 years of the Joseon Dynasty were marked by relative peace and saw the creation of Hangul by King Sejong the Great in the 14th century and the rise in influence of Confucianism in the country.
Between 1592 and 1598, the Japanese invaded Korea. Toyotomi Hideyoshi led the forces and tried to invade the Asian continent through Korea, but was eventually repelled by the Righteous army and assistance from Ming Dynasty China. This war also saw the rise of Admiral Yi Sun-sin and his renowned "turtle ship". In the 1620s and 1630s, Joseon suffered from invasions by the Manchu who eventually conquered all of China.
After another series of wars against Manchuria, Joseon experienced a nearly 200-year period of peace. King Yeongjo and King Jeongjo particularly led a new renaissance of the Joseon Dynasty.
However, the latter years of the Joseon Dynasty were marked by a dependence on China for external affairs and isolation from the outside world. During the 19th century, Korea's isolationist policy earned it the name the "Hermit Kingdom". The Joseon Dynasty tried to protect itself against Western imperialism, but was eventually forced to open trade. After the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Korea was occupied by Japan (1910–1945). At the end of World War II, the Japanese surrendered to Soviet and U.S. forces who occupied the northern and southern halves of Korea, respectively.
Tags:Korean,Hangul,Ce,Korean Peninsula,China,Japan,Seoul,Korean History,Gojoseon,Bc,Three Kingdoms Of Korea,Korea,Goryeo Dynasty,Joseon Dynasty,War,Ships,History Of Korea,Jikji,Dangun,Manchuria,Han Dynasty,Proto–three Kingdoms Of Korea,Buyeo,Okjeo,Dongye,Samhan,Goguryeo,Baekje,Silla,North South States Period,Unified Silla,Balhae,Goryeo,Khitan,Emperor Taejo,Printing Press,Mongol Invasions,Mongolian Empire,Yi Seong-gye,Gyeongbok Palace,Five Grand Palaces,King Sejong The Great,Confucianism,Japanese Invaded Korea,Toyotomi Hideyoshi,Righteous Army,Ming Dynasty,Yi Sun-sin,Turtle Ship,Invasions By The Manchu,Wars Against Manchuria,King Yeongjo,King Jeongjo,Hermit Kingdom,Imperialism,First Sino-japanese War,Russo-japanese War, | |
| After the division | |
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Main article: History of South Korea
Despite the initial plan of a unified Korea in the 1943 Cairo Declaration, escalating Cold War antagonism between the Soviet Union and the United States eventually led to the establishment of separate governments, each with its own ideology, leading to Korea's division into two political entities in 1948: North Korea and South Korea. In the North, a former anti-Japanese guerrilla and communist activist, Kim Il-sung gained power through Soviet support. In the South, elections supervised by the United Nations were held, a Republic of Korea was declared, and Syngman Rhee inaugurated as its first president. In December, the UN General Assembly declared this "a lawful government" and "the only such government in Korea."[7]
United Nations troops fighting in the streets of Seoul, September 1950
On 25 June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, sparking the Korean War, the Cold War's first major conflict. At the time, the Soviet Union had boycotted the United Nations (UN), thus forfeiting their veto rights. This allowed the UN to intervene in a civil war when it became apparent that the superior North Korean forces would unify the entire country. The Soviet Union and China backed North Korea, with the later participation of millions of Chinese troops. After huge advances on both sides, and massive losses among Korean civilians in both the north and the south, the war eventually reached a stalemate. The 1953 armistice, never signed by South Korea, split the peninsula along the demilitarized zone near the original demarcation line. No peace treaty was ever signed, resulting in the two countries remaining technically at war. At least 2.5 million people died during the Korean War.[16]
View of Seoul's Gangnam district in 2009
Namdaemun is a historic pagoda-style gateway.
In 1960, a student uprising (the "4.19 Revolution") led to the resignation of the autocratic President Syngman Rhee. A period of political instability followed, broken by General Park Chung-hee's military coup (the "5.16 coup d'état") against the weak and ineffectual government the next year. Park took over as president until his assassination in 1979, overseeing rapid export-led economic growth as well as severe political repression. Park was heavily criticised as a ruthless military dictator, although the Korean economy developed significantly during his tenure.
The years after Park's assassination were marked again by political turmoil, as the previously repressed opposition leaders all campaigned to run for president in the sudden political void. In 1979 there was Coup d'état of December Twelfth by General Chun Doo-hwan. After the Coup d'état, Chun Doo-hwan planned to rise to power with several measures. On May 17, Chun Doo-hwan forced the Cabinet to expand martial law to the whole nation, which had previously not applied to Jeju-do. The expanded martial law closed universities, banned political activities and further curtailed the press. Chun assumed the presidency by the event of May 17, triggering nationwide protests demanding democracy, in particular in the city of Gwangju, where Chun sent special forces to violently suppress the Gwangju Democratization Movement.[17]
Chun subsequently created the National Defense Emergency Policy Committee and took the presidency according to his political plan. Chun and his government held Korea under a despotic rule until 1987, when a Seoul National University student, Park Jong-chul, was tortured to death.[18] On 10 June, the Catholic Priests Association for Justice revealed the incident, igniting huge demonstrations around the country. Eventually, Chun's party, the Democratic Justice Party, and its leader, Roh Tae-woo announced the 6.29 Declaration, which included the direct election of the president. Roh went on to win the election by a narrow margin against the two main opposition leaders, Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Young-Sam.
In 1988, Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics. It became a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1996.[19] It was adversely affected by the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. However, the country was able to recover and continue its economic growth, albeit at a slower pace.
In June 2000, as part of president Kim Dae-Jung's "Sunshine Policy" of engagement, a North–South summit took place in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Later that year, Kim received the Nobel Peace Prize "for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular."[20]
In 2002, South Korea and Japan jointly co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup, however South Korean and Japanese relations later soured due to conflicting claims of sovereignty over the Liancourt Rocks ("Dokdo" in Korea), in what became known as the Liancourt Rocks dispute.
Tags:Government,President,North Korea,Democracy,Republic,United Nations,Oecd,History Of South Korea,Cairo Declaration,Cold War,Soviet Union,Ideology,Korea's Division,Kim Il-sung,Syngman Rhee,Korean War,Chinese Troops,Demilitarized Zone,Gangnam,Namdaemun,A Student Uprising,Park Chung-hee,Military Coup,His Assassination,Export-led Economic Growth,Coup D'état Of December Twelfth, | |
| Government | |
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Main article: Government of South Korea
The National Assembly of South Korea
Under its current constitution the state is sometimes referred to as the Sixth Republic of South Korea. Like many democratic states,[21] South Korea has a government divided into three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. The executive and legislative branches operate primarily at the national level, although various ministries in the executive branch also carry out local functions. Local governments are semi-autonomous, and contain executive and legislative bodies of their own. The judicial branch operates at both the national and local levels. South Korea is a constitutional democracy.
The South Korean government's structure is determined by the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. This document has been revised several times since its first promulgation in 1948 at independence. However, it has retained many broad characteristics and with the exception of the short-lived Second Republic of South Korea, the country has always had a presidential system with an independent chief executive.[22] The first direct election was also held in 1948. Although South Korea experienced a series of military dictatorships since the 1960s up until the 1980s, it has since developed into a successful liberal democracy. Today, the CIA World Factbook describes South Korea's democracy as a "fully functioning modern democracy".[23]
Tags:Presidential,National Assembly, | |
| Administrative divisions | |
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Main articles: Provinces of South Korea and Administrative divisions of South Korea
See also Special cities of Korea and Provinces of Korea
The major administrative divisions in South Korea are provinces, metropolitan cities (self-governing cities that are not part of any province), and one special city.
Map
Namea
Hangul
Hanja
Population
Gangwon
Seoul
Incheon
Gyeonggi
Chungcheongnam
Chungcheongbuk
Daejeon
Gyeongsangbuk
Jeollabuk
Daegu
Ulsan
Busan
Gyeongsangnam
Gwangju
Jeollanam
Jeju
North Korea
Japan
Yellow Sea
(West Sea)
Korea Strait
(Western Channel)
Korea Strait
(Tsushima Strait)
Sea of Japan
(East Sea)
Special city (Teukbyeolsi)a
1
Seoul-teukbyeolsi
서울특별시
서울特別市b
10,421,782
Metropolitan cities (Gwangyeoksi)a
2
Busan-gwangyeoksi
부산광역시
釜山廣域市
3,635,389
3
Daegu-gwangyeoksi
대구광역시
大邱廣域市
2,512,604
4
Incheon-gwangyeoksi
인천광역시
仁川廣域市
2,628,000
6
Daejeon-gwangyeoksi
대전광역시
大田廣域市
1,442,857
5
Gwangju-gwangyeoksi
광주광역시
光州廣域市
1,456,308
7
Ulsan-gwangyeoksi
울산광역시
蔚山廣域市
1,087,958
Provinces (Do)a
8
Gyeonggi-do
경기도
京畿道
10,415,399
9
Gangwon-do
강원도
江原道
1,592,000
10
Chungcheongbuk-do (Northern Chungcheong)
충청북도
忠淸北道
1,462,621
11
Chungcheongnam-do (Southern Chungcheong)
충청남도
忠淸南道
1,840,410
12
Jeollabuk-do (Northern Jeolla)
전라북도
全羅北道
1,890,669
13
Jeollanam-do (Southern Jeolla)
전라남도
全羅南道
1,994,287
14
Gyeongsangbuk-do (Northern Gyeongsang)
경상북도
慶尙北道
2,775,890
15
Gyeongsangnam-do (Southern Gyeongsang)
경상남도
慶尙南道
2,970,929
Special self-governing province (Teukbyeoljachi-do)a
16
Jeju-teukbyeoljachi-do (Jeju-do)
제주특별자치도
濟州特別自治道
560,000
a Revised Romanisation; b Names of Seoul.
Principal divisions of South Korea. Numbers denote the divisions shown in the table above.
Tags:Hanja,Administrative Divisions, | |
| Foreign relations | |
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Main article: Foreign relations of South Korea
South Korea maintains diplomatic relations with more than 188 countries. The country has also been a member of the United Nations since 1991, when it became a member state at the same time as North Korea. On January 1, 2007, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon assumed the post of UN Secretary-General. It has also developed links with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as both a member of ASEAN Plus three, a body of observers, and the East Asia Summit (EAS).
In 2010, South Korea and the European Union concluded a free trade agreement (FTA) to reduce trade barriers. South Korea is also negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with Canada,[24] and another with New Zealand.[25] In November 2009 South Korea joined the OECD Development Assistance Committee, marking the first time a former aid recipient country joined the group as a donor member. South Korea hosted the G-20 Summit in Seoul in November 2010.
Tags:East Asia Summit, | |
| China | |
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Main articles: People's Republic of China-South Korea relations and Republic of China-South Korea relations
Historically, Korea has had close relations with China. Before the formation of South Korea, Korean independence fighters worked with Chinese soldiers during the Japanese occupation. However, after World War II, the People's Republic of China embraced Maoism while South Korea s Tags: | |
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