South Korean Culture

Per an online encyclopedia, officially the Republic of Korea, South Korea belongs to the East Asia region. Until its liberation in 1945, South Korea was formerly one with its other half, North Korea. Now, South Korea is at the Southern half of the Korean Peninsula bounded by China at the west (across the Yellow Sea), Japan in the southeast (across Korea Strait), and North Korea or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in the north.

With Seoul as its capital, South Korea adheres to a presidential republic form of government under the leadership of Lee Myung-bak, President elect who assumed post in February of 2008, and appointed Prime Minister Chung Un-san since September 28, 2009. The government’s structure is determined by the Constitution

Much of these are greatly influenced by Western cultures, particularly the United States. Nonetheless, South Korea still retains centuries-old customs and traditions such as its cuisine, ancestor worship, blood line and some Confucianism ideals.

Contemporary South Korean culture is heavily dominated by technological advancements, examples of which are feature-rich cellphone units and on-line games. South Korea’s technology-based expertise has brought it to hold the world title in the highest (number) penetration of high-speed internet access to households.

Education in Korea – 1987-1988, a book published by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kores sites four (4) outstanding traits of the Korean culture. The primary trait is to be found in the fusion of the various external influences into the “native mold”. The second trait is evident in the high level of scientific achievement. Third among the traits of Korean culture is in the area of arts and crafts. While the fourth outstanding cultural accomplishment is the invention of the Korean phonetic alphabet which is regarded as the most original and yet the most scientific of phonetic writing systems.

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