2. ABOUT KOREA:
• Located in EAST ASIA
• Called the “Land of the morning calm”
• Modern spelling of “COREA” a name
attested in English as early as 1614,
“KOREA” 19th century
3. GEOGRAPHY:
• Amnok River – The river that separates Korea from China
and to the north east.
• Duman River – The river that separates Korea from China
and Russia.
• Peninsula - surrounded by the Yellow Sea to the west,
the East China Sea and Korea Strait to the south, and the
Sea of Japan.
• Mount Paektu (2,744 m) - The highest mountain in Korea.
4. • Confucian tradition has dominated Korean
though, along with contributions by
Buddhism, Taoism, and Korean
Shamanism.
• Has competed with Buddhism in South
Korea, while religious practice has been
suppressed in North Korea.
RELIGION:
5. DIVIDED INTO TWO DISTINCT
SOVEREIGN STATES:
SOUTH KOREA or Republic of Korea
NORTH KOREA or Democratic
People’s Republic Of Korea
KOREA
7. • Seoul – Capital and the Largest City
• 51 million – Population
• Korean pop (Kpop) and Korean series and
movies
• Jeju Island, Mount Seorak and
Gyeongbokgung palace
• Famous with their products like Samsung
etc. and cosmetic products popularized by
the Korean stars/ actress
8. • Consists of six years in elementary school, three years in
middle school, and three years in high school. Students are
required to go to elementary and middle school, and do not
have to pay for their education, except for a small fee called
a "School Operation Support Fee“.
• The Programmed for International Student Assessment,
coordinated by the OECD, ranks South Korea's science
education as the third best in the world.
• South Korea ranks second on math and literature and first in
problem solving.
EDUCATION SYSTEM
10. • Pyongyang – Capital City
• 25 million – Total population
• Korean descent and small
communities of ethnic Chinese and
Japanese are also found in North
Korea.
• The world's 4th tallest flagpole
flying a 270kg. flag. It's 160m in
height, over Kijŏng-dong "Peace
village", near Panmunjom in the
Korean Demilitarized Zone.
11. • Children go through one year of kindergarten, four years of
primary education, six years of secondary education, and
then on to universities
• Consists primarily of universal and state funded schooling by
the government.
• The national literacy rate for citizens 15 years of age and
above is over 99 percent
• The most prestigious university is Kim Il-sung University
EDUCATION SYSTEM
12. • Korean is the official language of both North and South
Korea
• Worldwide, there are up to 80 million speakers of the
Korean language
• Korean has borrowed much vocabulary from the Chinese or
created vocabulary on Chinese models. Korean is written
almost exclusively in the script of the Korean alphabet
(known as Hangul in South Korea and Chosungul in China
and North Korea)
LANGUAGE
20. • Korean literature is usually divided
chronologically into a classical and a
modern period. But the basis for such
a division is still being questioned.
Great reforms swept Korea after the
mid-19th century as its society
actively absorbed Western things.
21. • Korea's classical literature developed
against the backdrop of traditional folk
beliefs of the Korean people; it was
also influenced by Taoism,
Confucianism, and Buddhism. Among
these, Buddhist influence held the
greatest sway, followed by enormous
influences from Confucianism -
especially Song Confucianism - during
the Choson period.
22. • Modern literature of Korea, on the other hand,
developed out of its contact with Western culture,
following the course of modernization. Not only
Christian thought, but also various artistic trends and
influences were imported from the West. As the "New
Education" and the "National Language and Literature
Movement" developed, the Chinese writing system,
which had traditionally represented the culture of the
dominant class, lost the socio-cultural function it had
previously enjoyed.
23. • At the same time, the Korean script, Han-gul was being
used more and more frequently, resulting in the growth
and development of Korean language and literature
studies. With the advent of the "new novel" (shinsosol)
came a surge in novels written in the Korean script.
Music and classical poetry, formerly fused together in a
kind of a song called ch'anggok, were now viewed as
separate endeavors. While Korea was importing
Western culture via Japan or China, it was also carrying
out literary reforms from within.
