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Korea / Hangeul
Korea lies adjacent to China and Japan, between 33~43 North parallels and 124~132 East meridians. The total population including South and North Korea is estimated to reach 70 million as of 2004. Recently, Corea held FIFA Worldcup 2002 Korea-Japan, advancing to the semi-final.

°³°ü OVERVIEW
Corea Map as of A.D. 2000
  • Korea has an about 5,000 year history that officially begins from Gojoseon Dynasty (°íÁ¶¼± ͯðÈàÐ) in 2333 B.C.
  • Goguryeo (°í±¸·Á ÍÔÏ£Õò) and Baekje (¹éÁ¦ ÛÝð­) Dynasties were strong dynasties that consecutively dominated in the East Asia before being merged into Silla Dynasty (½Å¶ó ãæÔþ) in the 7th centry.
  • Goryeo Dynasty (°í·Á ÍÔÕò), from which the name " Coree or Corea (Korea)" originated, was strong and independent enough to match Song and Yuan in China.
  • Chosun Dynasty (Á¶¼± ðÈàÐ), built on the Confucianism, lasted for longer than 500 years.
  • After World War II, the Republic of Korea (´ëÇѹα¹ ÓÞùÛÚÅÏÐ)and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPR) were respectively established in the south and the north of Korea in 1948.
¿ª»ç HISTORY (Korea, China, Japan, and USA)
Corea (Korea)ChinaJapanUSA
Gojoseon (2333~108 B.C.)
Buyo (239 B.C.~A.D. 494)		 Shang
Zhou (1046~771 B.C.)
Qin (221~206 B.C.)
Han (206 B.C.~)
Goguryeo (37 B.C.~A.D. 668)
Baekje (18 B.C.~A.D. 660)
Silla (57 B.C.~)
Gaya (A.D. 42~ 562)		 Han (206 B.C.~A.D. 220)
Sui (A.D. 581~618)
Silla (57 B.C.~A.D. 935)
Balhae (AD 698~926)		 Tang (A.D. 618~907)Nara/Heian (A.D. 710~1192)
Goryeo (918~1392) Song (960~1279)
Yuan(1271~1368)		Kamakura (1192~1333)
Joseon (1392~1897)
Korean Empire (1897~1910)		 Ming (1368~1644)
Qing (1644~1911)		Muromachi (1338~1573)
Azuchi-Momoyama
Edo (1603~1868)
Meiji (1868~1912)		Native American
British Colony (17C~1776)
USA (1776~)
Colonial period (1910~1945)
Provisional Korea Government
(1919-1948)		 Revolution period
(1911-1949)		Taisho/Showa (1912~1945)USA (1776~)
Korea (ROK) (1948~)
Korea (DPR) (1948~)		 China (1949~)
Taiwan (1949~)		Japan (1945~)USA (1776~)

Taegeukgi, Korean National Flag

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»ó¡ SYMBOLS Mugunghwa

ÇÑ±Û HANGEUL (KOREAN) Hunminjungeum

Hangeul, Korean Language, was officially arranged by King Sejong in the 15th century. It has been known the most scientific and efficient language in the world. Of course, Hangeul is easy to learn because of small number of rules and exceptions. You may be able to read Korean almost perfectly within a week! Go for it now!

It consists of 24 letters, in fact, sound elements, including 10 vowels and 14 consonants. This sound element are similar to phonetic symbols in English. Korean consonents dipicts shapes of voice organs such as mouth, lip, throat, and tongue, while vowels are formed after heaven, ground, and people in a oriental philosophical sense. A combination of two or three sound elements makes a whole Korean letter. Consonants are used in the first and third sounds, while vowels appear only in the second sound.

The total number of combinatins reaches 11,172; that is, Korean language is able to express 11 thousand sounds by combining the basic 24 sound elements (letters). However, only about 20 percent of possible combinations is currently used in contemporary Korean.

Insam (Ginseng) from http://www.kyongbuktour.or.kr/

Learning Hangeul through English (New)

Learning Hangeul through English (OLD)

Hangeul Grammar, Dictionary, Newspaper, and Broadcasting

Other Resources (Institutes and Association

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񊎭 KIMCHI Kimchi

The most prominent feature of Korean food is that the food is fermented. Kimchi, the best known Korean food, is also fermented through lactic acid production at low temperatures to ensure proper ripening and preservation. So do the three basic jangs (sauces): Doynjang (bean paste), Gochujang (pepper paste), and Kanjang (soy sauce). These jangs are made from Mejus, lumps of fermented bean.



ÇѺ¹ HANBOK Hanbok from http://www.jounyhanbok.co.kr/

Hanbok is the traditional attire that Corean have worn for longer than 2000 years. Its unique design, materials, colors well reflect beautiful land and Corean's peaceful life. In particular, I love its curved line and natural colors.



Å»Ãã TALCHUM Talchum (Mask Dance)

µµÀÚ±â DOJAGI

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TRUTH / UNTRUTH Dojagi
  • Goguryeo (°í±¸·Á ÍÔÏ£Õò)is a Chinese dynasty (Wrong) ==> Goguryeo is the biggest Korean dynasty that destoyed Chinese Sui Dynasty in the 7th centry. Goryeo Dynasty (°í·Á ÍÔÕò) in the 10th centruy modeled after Goguryeo. The "Coree" and "Corea" today originated from Goryeo Dynasty.
  • Dokdo (Ô¼Óö) is Japan's island (No way!).==> Dokdo is Korea's island. Dokdo literally means "stone island (dol sum)." Silla Dynasty conqured Woosanguk and Dokdo in the early 6th century long before the first Japanes dynasty was established in the 8th century.
  • Sea of Japan (Wrong) ==> East Sea (µ¿ÇØ ÔÔú­) or Sea of Korea. Korean coined this name long time ago when Japanese remained barbarian. Some Japenese's allegation is ahistoric and groundless, just reflecting evil Japanese imperialism. How could the barbarian called "Wae" even imagine Japan in the early days? It must be a kind of chronic inferiority complex.
  • Kimuchi (±èÄ¡) is Japanese food (Wrong) ==> KIMCHI is traditional Korean food.
  • Korea had been ruled by Japan before World War II (Wrong) ==> Japan invaded and colonized Korea only for 36 years (1910~1945). Korea had had substantial cultural, political, social, and economical impacts on Japan, in particular, since the 6th centry. In particular, the royal family of Baekje Dynasty, after being defeted by Silla Dynasty, moved to Japan and had become Japanese royal family.
  • Korean and Japanes are totally different. (Wrong) ==> Korean has affected Japanese significantly. There are many similarities in language structure and vocabularies. Many Japanese vocabularies are known to originate from Korean. Many of them are writted in the same Chinese letters with similar, if not identical, pronunciations. So, it is easy for Korean to learn Japanese.
  • South Korea and North Korea are quite different countries. (Wrong) ==> They are just Korea that shares the same culture, language, etc.
ENCYCLOPEDIA
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http://www.masil.org/site/corea.html. Last modified on 11/07/2008
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