CCC+16+Kwang

= South Korea =

"Annyong-haseyo"


 * South Korea** officially the Republic of Korea ( Daehan Minguk ), is a sovereign state located in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name "Korea" is derived from Goryeo, a dynasty which ruled in the Middle Ages. Its neighbors are China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. South Korea lies in the north temperate zone with a predominantly mountainous terrain. It covers a total area of 99,392 square kilometers and has a population of 50 million . The capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population of 9.8 million.

** Flag **
The flag of South Korea has three parts: a white background; a red and blue taegeuk (also known as Taiji and Yinyang) in the center; and four black trigrams, one in each corner of the flag. These trigrams are carried over from the eight trigrams (Ba gua), which are of Daoist origin. Taiji (philosophy), Trigrams and Taoism are parts of the Chinese Culture which influences Korea throughout the history.
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Flag_of_South_Korea.svg/800px-Flag_of_South_Korea.svg.png width="608" height="398"]] ||~  ||
 * ~  ||~ Name in Korean ||~ Nature ||~ Seasons ||~ Cardinal directions ||~ Four virtues ||~ Family ||~ Four elements ||~ Meanings ||
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Palgwae_Geon.svg/28px-Palgwae_Geon.svg.png width="28" height="20"]] || //geon// || sky || spring || east || humanity || father || heaven || justice ||
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Palgwae_Ri.svg/28px-Palgwae_Ri.svg.png width="28" height="20"]] || //ri// || sun || autumn || south || justice || daughter || fire || fruition ||
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Palgwae_Gam.svg/28px-Palgwae_Gam.svg.png width="28" height="20"]] || //gam// || moon || winter || north || intelligence || son || water || wisdom ||
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Palgwae_Gon.svg/28px-Palgwae_Gon.svg.png width="28" height="20"]] || //gon// || earth || summer || west || courtesy || mother || earth || vitality ||

Money
The "won" is the currency of South Korea. A single won is divided into 100 jeon, the monetary subunit. The jeon is no longer used for everyday transactions, and appears only in foreign exchange rates.

National dress
Hanbok is the traditional Korean dress. It is often characterized by vibrant colors and simple lines without pockets. Although the term literally means "Korean clothing", hanbok today often refers specifically to hanbok of Chosŏn Dynasty and is worn as semi-formal or formal wear during traditional festivals and celebrations. []


 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Hanbok_%28female_and_male%29.jpg/220px-Hanbok_%28female_and_male%29.jpg width="274" height="322"]] || [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Hanbok-female_clothing-01.jpg width="427" height="318"]] ||~  ||



History
Korean history begins with the founding of Chosun (often known as "Gojoseon" to prevent confusion with another dynasty founded in the 14th century; the prefix Go- means 'older,' 'before,' or 'earlier') in 2333 BC by Dangun, according to Korean foundation mythology. 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 Koreaperiod.



Government
Under its current constitution the state is sometimes referred to as the Sixth Republic of South Korea. Like many democratic states, 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. South Korea is a constitutional democracy.



**Climate**

South Korea has four distinct seasons; spring, summer, autumn and winter. Spring usually lasts from late-March to early- May, summer from mid-May to early-September, autumn from mid-September to early-November, and winter from mid-November to mid-March.


 * [[image:http://blog.asiahotels.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/temple-in-winter-300x237.jpg width="354" height="273" caption="Winter in Korea"]] || [[image:http://koreanspring.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/romancebridge30.jpg width="444" height="275" caption="Spring in Korea"]] ||~  ||~   ||

** Cities **
The table below lists the twenty largest cities within administrative city limits. []

2010 Population and Housing Census of Korea || Seoul
 * ~ Largest cities or towns of **South Korea**
 * ~  ||~ Rank ||~ City name ||~ Province ||~ Pop. ||~ Rank ||~ City name ||~ Province ||~ Pop. ||~   ||
 * = [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Seoul-01.jpg/120px-Seoul-01.jpg width="120" height="80" caption="Seoul" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Seoul-01.jpg"]]

Busan || 1 || **Seoul** || Seoul || 9,794,304 || 11 || **Goyang** || Gyeonggi || 905,076 ||= Incheon

Daegu ||
 * ^  || 2 || **Busan** || Busan || 3,414,950 || 12 || **Yongin** || Gyeonggi || 856,765 ||^   ||
 * ^  || 3 || **Incheon** || Incheon || 2,662,509 || 13 || **Bucheon** || Gyeonggi || 853,039 ||^   ||
 * ^  || 4 || **Daegu** || Daegu || 2,446,418 || 14 || **Ansan** || Gyeonggi || 728,775 ||^   ||
 * ^  || 5 || **Daejeon** || Daejeon || 1,501,859 || 15 || **Cheongju** || North Chungcheong || 666,924 ||^   ||
 * ^  || 6 || **Gwangju** || Gwangju || 1,475,745 || 16 || **Jeonju** || North Jeolla || 649,728 ||^   ||
 * ^  || 7 || **Ulsan** || Ulsan || 1,082,567 || 17 || **Anyang** || Gyeonggi || 602,122 ||^   ||
 * ^  || 8 || **Suwon** || Gyeonggi || 1,071,913 || 18 || **Cheonan** || South Chungcheong || 574,623 ||^   ||
 * ^  || 9 || **Changwon** || South Gyeongsang || 1,058,021 || 19 || **Namyangju** || Gyeonggi || 529,898 ||^   ||
 * ^  || 10 || **Seongnam** || Gyeonggi || 949,964 || 20 || **Pohang** || North Gyeongsang || 511,390 ||^   ||

Religion
As of 2005, just under half of the South Korean population expressed no religious preference. Of the rest, most are Buddhist or Christian. According to the 2007 census, 29.2% of the population at that time was Christian and 22.8% were Buddhist. []





People

 * [[image:http://hilight.kapook.com/img_cms/news/korea.jpg width="323" height="305"]] || [[image:http://www.toptenthailand.com/2013/img/img_topten/img_icon/1346317609.jpg width="408" height="308"]] ||


 * ==[[image:http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000w_ZO0OkotBQ/s/750/600/SOUTH-KOREA-20091031-012.jpg width="280" height="420"]]== || [[image:http://korea.tlcthai.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Fashion2606106.jpg width="290" height="416"]] ||

**Art**

Korean art has been highly influenced by Buddhism  and Confucianism. which can be seen in the many traditional paintings, sculptures, ceramics and the performing arts. And Korean pottery and porcelain, The Korean tea ceremony, pansori, talchum and buchaechum are also notable Korean performing arts. []


 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Korean.Dance-Mask-Bride-Monk-01.jpg width="249" height="293" caption="A scenery on Dano day"]] || [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Hyewon-Dano.pungjeong.jpg width="376" height="293" caption="Bongsan Talchum"]] ||

** Traditional Dance **
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Architecture
Korean traditional architecture is characterized by its harmony with nature. Ancient architects adopted the bracket system characterized by thatched roofs and heated floors called ondol. []



Food
Korean food is largely based on rice, noodles, tofu, vegetables, fish and meats. Traditional Korean meals are noted for the number of side dishes, //banchan//, which accompany steam-cooked short-grain rice. Every meal is accompanied by numerous banchan. Kimchi, a fermented, usually spicy vegetable dish is commonly served at every meal and is one of the best known Korean dishes. Korean cuisine usually involves heavy seasoning with sesame oil, doenjang, a type of fermented soybean paste, soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger, and gochujang, a hot pepper paste. []


 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Korean_cuisine-Bibimbap-08.jpg width="336" height="246" caption="Bibimbap"]] || [[image:http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpQcLIcDC9Em-sLh24ZQLDWNPvyCnoq1EkTSlKjuX8TTXvXxQY5g width="316" height="247" caption="Kimchi"]] ||



Korean ginseng
= =

Korean ginseng is very famous. Ginseng is the plant is found growing in regions from North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, among other regions of Asia. Korean ginseng is a type of ginseng native to Asia. Korean ginseng is known as a tonic, and has been known to treat diabetes mellitus and help develop human brain efficiency.



Contemporary music, film and television
In addition to domestic consumption, South Korean mainstream culture, including televised drama, films, and popular music, also generates significant exports to various parts of the world. This phenomenon, often called "Hallyu" or the "Korean Wave", has swept many countries in Asia and other parts of the world.


 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/LG_%EC%8B%9C%EB%84%A4%EB%A7%88_3D_TV_%EC%83%88_%EB%AA%A8%EB%8D%B8_%E2%80%98%EC%86%8C%EB%85%80%EC%8B%9C%EB%8C%80%E2%80%99_%EC%98%81%EC%9E%85.jpg/800px-LG_%EC%8B%9C%EB%84%A4%EB%A7%88_3D_TV_%EC%83%88_%EB%AA%A8%EB%8D%B8_%E2%80%98%EC%86%8C%EB%85%80%EC%8B%9C%EB%8C%80%E2%80%99_%EC%98%81%EC%9E%85.jpg width="449" height="312" caption="South Korean girl group Girls' Generation"]] ||~  ||

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** Technology **
South Korea has sent up 10 satellites from 1992, all using foreign rockets and overseas launch pads, notably Arirang-1 in 1999, and Arirang-2 in 2006 as part of its space partnership with Russia. Arirang-1 was lost in space in 2008, after nine years in service. South Korean corporations Samsung and LG were ranked first and third largest mobile phone companies in the world in the first quarter of 2012. And its has the fastest Internet download speeds in the world, with an average download speed of 17.5 Mbit/s. Robotics has been included in the list of main national R&D projects in Korea since 2003. In 2009, the government announced plans to build robot-themed parks in Incheon and Masan with a mix of public and private funding


 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Galaxy_Tab_wp_jeh.jpg/460px-Galaxy_Tab_wp_jeh.jpg width="245" height="310" caption="Samsung Galaxy Tab"]] || [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Einstein-Hubo.jpg/170px-Einstein-Hubo.jpg width="204" height="319" caption="Albert HUBO, developed by KAIST, can make expressive gestures with its five separate fingers."]] ||

Language
Korean is the official language of South Korea and North Korea as well as one of the two official languages in China. In South Korea, the language is most often called Hangungmal, or more formally, Hangugeo or Gugeo. []




 * ~ Hangul || ㅂ || ㄷ || ㅈ || ㄱ || ㅃ || ㄸ || ㅉ || ㄲ || ㅍ || ㅌ || ㅊ || ㅋ || ㅅ || ㅎ || ㅆ || ㅁ || ㄴ || ㅇ || ㄹ ||
 * ~ RR || //b// || //d// || //j// || //g// || //pp// || //tt// || //jj// || //kk// || //p// || //t// || //ch// || //k// || //s// || //h// || //ss// || //m// || //n// || //ng// || //r//, //l// ||




 * ~ Hangul || ㅣ || ㅔ || ㅚ || ㅐ || ㅏ || ㅗ || ㅜ || ㅓ || ㅡ || ㅢ || ㅖ || ㅒ || ㅑ || ㅛ || ㅠ || ㅕ || ㅟ || ㅞ || ㅙ || ㅘ || ㅝ ||
 * ~ RR || //i// || //e// || //oe// || //ae// || //a// || //o// || //u// || //eo// || //eu// || //ui// || //ye// || //yae// || //ya// || //yo// || //yu// || //yeo// || //wi// || //we// || //wae// || //wa// || //wo// ||

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= Etiquette =


 * Eating and Dining **
 * 1) Don’t pour your own drink, but offer to pour others' drinks. If you deny to pour for someone, if will be offensive. Women pour only men's drinks, and never another woman's drink. A woman can pour her own drink though. If you want a refill, drink all of your drink, otherwise, don’t drink all of your drink.
 * 2) Wherever you see a "No Tipping" sign, don’t tip. Koreans find that if you tip, then it will be offensive.
 * 3) Always agree to your host to seat you. The seat of honor is the seat looking at the front door, and if you are seated there, it is polite to protest slightly.
 * 4) It is polite to pass or accept food or drink with your right hand while your left hand supports your forearm/wrist.
 * 5) The person who invites pays the bill for everyone. However, it is polite to offer to pay. When two people are dining, usually the younger person pays for the older person.
 * 6) After dinner, the host may invite his guests to go drinking. Don't refuse this invitation.
 * Body Language **
 * 1) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">Never touch, pat, or backslap a Korean that is not your relative or close friend.
 * 2) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">Always pass and accept things with your right hand, with your left hand supporting the wrist.
 * 3) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">To beckon someone, extend your arm palm down, and move your fingers in a scratching motion.
 * 4) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">Never point with your index finger.


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Gift Giving **
 * 1) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">It is the most important part of their culture, so have gifts wherever you go, just in case.
 * 2) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">If you are the one accepting the gift, refuse a couple of times, before agreeing to have it, and if you don’t agree to take the gift, they will be very insulted.
 * 3) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">When shaking hands or getting a gift from an elder, use two hands.
 * 4) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">Never give expensive gifts (they will give you a gift about the same amount of money you spend on the gift you gave them), scissors and knives, a gift wrapped in red, or red writing on the gift.
 * 5) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">They prefer bright colored wrapping paper on the gift.


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Business **
 * 1) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">Avoid direct eye contact between junior and senior business people.
 * 2) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">Call if your late, and if you wait for thirty minutes, it is not a sign of disrespect, but how pressured the Korean people are with time.
 * 3) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">Whenever meeting another professional for the first time, exchange business cards (don’t forget, both hands!)
 * 4) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">The first meeting is to know if they are trustworthy, so business is not discussed.
 * 5) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">Be formal in meeting until the Koreans trust you.
 * 6) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">A low deep bow from Koreans means the meeting was successful, but a short, quick bow, means it was not.




 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">Greeting **


 * 1) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">When greeting (and saying bye to) an elder, keep both legs straight and together, put both arms stiffly by your side, keep your back straight, and bend from the waist. Keep the head down and do not look at the elder.
 * 2) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">While bowing, say, “an nyung hah sae yo” (the greeting phrase). Bow not too fast or slow.
 * 3) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">If it is the first time meeting the person, give a detailed introduction about yourself.
 * 4) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">Koreans avoid saying “no”, so “yes”, may not mean, “yes”.
 * 5) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">You shouldn't squeeze hard when shaking hands.
 * 6) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;">Never talk about Korean culture, even if it is complimentary, earshot to a Korean.

Sports
The martial art taekwondo originated in Korea. In the 1950 and 1960, modern rules were standardised and taekwondo became an official Olympic sport in 2000. Other Korean martial arts include taekkyeon, hapkido, tang soo do, kuk sool won, kumdo and subak.
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Exhibicion_dollyo_chagui_con_apoyo.jpg/220px-Exhibicion_dollyo_chagui_con_apoyo.jpg width="344" height="290" caption="Taekwondo"]] || [[image:http://www.koreanclicks.com/pics/Taekkyeon1.jpg width="347" height="278" caption="Taekkyeon"]] ||

Attractions

 * 5 Best tourist attractions in South Korea.**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**1.Jeju Island**, also known as the “Island of the Gods,” is a popular tourist attractions for Koreans and many international visitors. It remains one of the top honeymoon destinations for Korean newlyweds. The island’s mixture of volcanic rock, frequent rains, and temperate climate, make it very similar to the

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hawaiian Islands. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Calibri,'Myriad Pro',Myriad,'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">**2.Seoul** is the capital city of South Korea and is also the country's political and economic center. This beautiful city consists of a wonderful amalgamation of modern and ancient architecture which make this city a sight to behold.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">**3.Busan** is a seaport surrounded by several beaches. The most beautiful of them is the Haeundae-beach. At about 1.5 kilometers in length, it is well worth visiting in the summer as well as the winter.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**4.Seoraksan** National Park, As Korea's most popular national park, Seorak-san gets a tremendous number of visitors to see the leaves turn color every autumn. Seorak-san's craggy peaks are often shrouded in mist. The park contains several famous temples, including Baekdam-sa. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">**5.Bulguksa** which is perched atop a mountain, is a classic example of Korean Buddhist architecture, but it is just the crown jewel of Gyeongju's living history. Gyeongju is best seen in springtime, when the miles of cherry trees lining the main streets burst into life. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">

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