South Korea Blog1

Korea is a small peninsula on the far East side of Asia. It is between China and Japan. It is connected to mainland Asia in the North. It is separated from China and Russia by the Yalu River and the Tuman River. Between Korea and Japan is the East Sea. To the West between Korea and China is the Yellow Sea. The size of Korea is roughly 1,000 kilometers in length.

The United States and South Korea share a long history of friendship and cooperation based on common values and interests. The two countries work together to combat regional and global threats and to strengthen their economies. The United States has maintained Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine personnel in South Korea in support of its commitment under the U.S.-R.O.K. Mutual Defense Treaty to help South Korea defend itself against external aggression.

Language

The Korean language is spoken by more than 70 million people living on the peninsula and its outlying islands as well as 5.5 million Koreans living in other parts of the world.  The fact that all Koreans speak and write the same language has been a crucial factor in their strong national identity.  Modern Korea has several different dialects including the standard one used in Seoul and central areas, but they are similar enough that speakers/listeners do not have trouble understanding each other.

United Nations

 South Korea was simultaneously admitted to the United Nations (UN) in 1991. On 8 August 1991, the UN Security Council passed United Nations Security Council Resolution 702, recommending South Korea to the UN General Assembly for membership. On 17 September 1991, the General Assembly admitted both countries.

Economy

I found an old article written in 2001 about the IMF and South Korea. South Korea paid off the last of its debt to the International Monetary Fund on Thursday, closing a chapter in the 1997-98 Asian crash that forced one of the world's biggest economies to appeal for a foreign bailout. Still, many analysts say South Korea's economic troubles are not over and that corporate restructuring has a long way to go. "The government has succeed in repaying IMF, but failed to strengthen the country's economic structure to ensure sustained growth," said Jun Min-kyu, an analyst at LG Investment & Securities Ltd.

WTO

The Republic of Korea has been a WTO member since 1 January 1995

https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/korea_republic_e.htm

Culture

Korean culture is very interesting and full of wonderful traditions. It is a magical place where you find both perfect peace and harmony, but unfortunately wars and tragedies as well. Korean culture rarely falls short of amazing. Use the table below to quickly jump to the section you are interested in.

Although South Korea is modernizing extremely fast, it still holds on to many traditional values and the old way of life. Where there are not highly populated cities, there are rural area's which are still relatively poor, and still follow traditional ways of life. In cities, millions of people live in apartments, but in the rural area's you will find traditional housing. Also, even though the cities are headed toward very modern times, people still hold onto some traditional values. One thing that guarantee's this is the language. The language has traditional values of social status and respect built directly into it. Words change depending on who you are speaking with. This will keep traditional values always present.

Buddhism is one of the older religions in South Korea. Its influence in society has declined recently, but there are still many Korean's that practice Buddhism. The pictures above are of various temples that followers will visit. Christianity has become more and more popular in recent years in South Korea. Christianity was introduced to Korea by the Jesuits in China. Catholics spread very quickly, but were persecuted by the King who perceived it as a threat. Protestants began to enter Korea in the late 19th century. Some of the world's largest churches will be found in Korea.

http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/South-Korea.htmlhttp://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/south-korea/culture-etiquette/