Korea Land The Korean Peninsula extends southward from the northeastern section of the vast Asian continent, spanning 1,000 kilometers north to south. It shares most of its northern border with China and touches Russia. Since 1948, the Peninsula has been divided into two parts, the Republic of Korea in the south and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north. The Korean Peninsula is 222,154 square kilometers, almost the same site as the U.K. or Romania. The administrative area of the Republic of Korea is 99,392 square kilometers, slightly larger than Hungary or Portugal and a little smaller than Iceland. Korea has a varied terrain, though about 70 percent of the territory is mountainous. The spectacular T'aebaek mountains run the full length of the east coast, where the lashing tides of the East Sea, have carved out sheer cliffs and rocky islets. The western and southern slopes are very gentle, forming plains and many offshore islands honeycombed with inlets. The irregular shoreline is dotted with over 3,000 islands. The Peninsula has many scenic mountains and rivers, so Koreans often call it the "land decorated with golden embroidery." The highest peak is Mt. Paektusan, or the Ever White Mountain, which stands 2,744 meters high on the northern borderline facing Manchuria. This extinct volcano, with a crater named Ch'onji, or Heavenly Lake, on its top, is shrouded with a mythical aura as the site of the first kingdom in Korean history, dating back some 5,000 years. The mountain is also noted as a rich depository of wildlife. Considering the size of its territory, Korea has a relatively large number of rivers and streams which have played important roles in developing industries and lifestyles. Both of the two longest rivers, the Amnokkang River (Yalu, 790km) and the Tumangang River (Tumen, 521km), originate at Mt. Paektusan and flow to the west and the east, respectively, to form the Peninsula's northern border. In South Korea, the Naktonggang River (525km) and the Han-gang River (514km) are the two major rivers responsible for irrigation and industrial water supply. The Han-gang River flows through Seoul, the capital of the Republic and serves as a lifeline for the large population in the central region, including Seoul's 11 million residents. The river also played a significant part in the development of Korea's ancient civilization. The Yellow Sea, lying between Korea and the People's Republic of China, and the ocean south of the Peninsula form a continental shelf with the shallow sea floor providing valuable resources for the fishing industry. Surrounding the Peninsula on three sides, the sea has played a remarkable role in Korean life since ancient times, contributing to the early development of shipbuilding and navigation skills. In recent years, the seabed off the southwestern coast has been explored for petroleum deposits.

People The Koreans are one ethnic family speaking one language. Linguistic and anthropological studies as well as legendary sources clearly distinguish Koreans from the Chinese and the Japanese. Sharing distinct physical characteristics, they are believed to be descendants of several Mongol tribes which migrated onto the Korean Peninsula from Central Asia. Koreans were a homogeneous people by the beginning of the Christian era. In the seventh century A.D. they were politically unified for the first time by the Shilla Kingdom (57 B.C.-A.D. 935) and subsequently witnessed a great cultural flowering. The Korean people struggled successfully for millennia to maintain their cultural and political identity despite the influence of neighboring China and the more recent aggressive inclinations of the Japanese. They are a proud people with one of the longest national histories in the world. The Republic of Korea had a population of 44.5 million in 1994 and registered a density of 447 persons per square kilometer. The population of North Korea was 23.5 million in 1994. Fast population growth was once a serious social problem in the Republic, as in most other developing nations. Owing to successful family planning campaigns and changing attitudes, however, population growth has been curbed remarkably in recent years. The annual growth rate was 0.90 percent in 1994. A notable trend in the population structure is that it is getting increasingly older. The 1994 statistics showed that 42.8 percent of the total population was under 25. The number of people of productive age, 15 and above, rose from 24,751,000 in 1980 to 33,872,000 in 1994. Another distinct but unwelcome phenomenon is the continuing migration of rural residents to cities, resulting in heavy population concentrations. Currently, one out of every four Koreans lives in Seoul. Specialists predict that the urban population will increase to 80.6 percent in 2000, up from 74.4 percent in 1990. To cope with the growing urban problems caused by such an imbalance, the Government has prepared a long-term manpower development plan. The plan aims at dispersing population to provincial areas through the relocation of economic activities and balanced land development. Minority groups are almost nonexistent in Korea, apart from some 30,000 Chinese who are mostly long-term residents in the capital area.

Culture and the Arts of Korea Korean art possesses several distinguishing characteristics that create a unique style of its own. Korean art respects nature, and the extensive use of quiet and subdued colors is manifested in Korean paintings and ceramics. Humor is another characteristic of Korean art. Bold exaggeration, the acceptance of non-symmetrical cubic objects, and unique spatial beauty conveyed by imperfect roundness are examples of humor in Korean art. Quiet harmony may be cited as another characteristic of Korean art. This means that there is no excess, the right materials being selected in scale with the surroundings. With all of these characteristics, the Korean arts have inherited a unique aesthetic sense which depicts beauty with honesty and simplicity that is free of artifice.

History of Korea The history of human activity in Korea can be traced far into the Paleolithic period, about 500,000 years ago. The beginning of Korean history is often dated to 2333 B.C. when King Tan-gun, a legendary figure born of the son of Heaven and a woman from a bear-totem tribe, established the first kingdom named "Choson", literally meaning the "Land of the Morning Calm." While the historicity of the Tan-gun myth is disputed among scholars, it is known that ancient Korea was characterized by clan communities which combined to form small city-states. They rose and fell so that by the first century B.C. three kingdoms, Koguryo (37 B.C.-A.D.668), Paekche (18 B.C.-A.D.660) and Shilla (57 B.C.-A.D.935), had emerged on the Korean Peninsula and part of what is now known as Manchuria. Ever since Shilla unified the Peninsula in 668, Korea has been ruled by a single government and has maintained its political independence and cultural and ethnic identity in spite of frequent foreign invasions. Both the Koryo(918- 1392) and Choson (1392-1910) Kingdoms consolidated their dynastic power and flourished culturally, while repelling intruders like the Khitans, Mongols, Manchus and Japanese. In the late 19th century, Korea became the focus of intense competition among imperialist nations, China, Russia and Japan. In 1910, Japan annexed Korea and instituted colonial rule, bringing the Yi Dynasty of Choson to an end and with it, traditional Korea. National liberation occurred in 1945 but was soon followed by territorial division. The Republic of Korea in the south has a democratic government, while the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north is ruled by a Communist regime.
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