Destination Guide To Korea

GEOGRAPHY & BACKGROUND

Korea is a geographic area, civilization, and former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. The peninsula is currently divided into North Korea and South Korea, and borders China to the northwest and Russia to the northeast, with Japan situated to the southeast across the Korea Strait.

One of the world's oldest civilizations[1], Korea began with the founding of Gojoseon in 2333 BC, according to the Dangun legend. Limited linguistic evidence suggests possible Altaic-Tungusic origins of these people, whose northern Mongolian Steppe culture absorbed refugees and invaders from northern China. In the 4th century, the adoption of Buddhism and the Chinese writing system ("hanja" in Korean) had a profound effect on its society. Koreans later passed on these, as well as their own advances, to Japan, helping that country take its first steps into civilization.

After the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea by Silla in 676, Korea was ruled by a single government and maintained political and cultural independence, despite the Mongol invasions of the Goryeo Dynasty in the 13th century and Japanese invasions of the Joseon Dynasty in the 16th century. Korean civilization reached its height in the 15th century, during the reign of King Sejong the Great, when the Korean alphabet hangul was created and turtle ships, currently believed to be the world's first ironclad warships, were deployed.

During the latter part of the Joseon Dynasty, Korea's isolationist policy earned it the Western nickname the "Hermit Kingdom". By the late 19th century, the country became the object of colonial designs by the imperial aggressors of Japan and Europe. In 1910, Korea was forcibly annexed by Japan and remained occupied until the end of World War II in 1945.

In 1945, Soviet and U.S. troops occupied the northern and southern halves of the country, respectively. The two Cold War enemies helped establish governments sympathetic to their own ideologies, leading to Korea's current division into two political entities: North Korea and South Korea.

Korea is located on the Korean Peninsula in North-East Asia. It is bound by two countries and three seas. To the northwest, the Yalu River separates Korea from China and to the northeast, the Tumen River separates Korea from Russia. The Yellow Sea is to the west, the East China Sea is to the south, and the Sea of Japan (East Sea) is to the east of Korea. Notable islands include Jeju-do, Ulleung-do, and Dokdo.

The southern part and western part of the Korean mainland have well developed plains, while the eastern and northern parts are mountainous. The highest mountain in Korea is Mt. Baekdu (2744m, Changbaishan in Chinese). The border with China runs through the mountain. The southern extension of Mt. Baekdu is a highland called Gaema Gowon. This highland was mainly raised during the Cenozoic orogeny and partly covered by volcanic matter. To the south of Gaema Gowon, successive high mountains are located along the eastern coast of the peninsula. This series of mountains is named Baekdudaegan. Some significant mountains include Sobaeksan (2,184 m), Baeksan (1,724 m), Geumgangsan (1,638 m), Seoraksan (1,708 m), Taebaeksan (1,567 m), and Jirisan (1,915 m). There are several lower, secondary mountain series whose direction is almost perpendicular to that of Baekdudaegan. They are developed along the tectonic line of Mesozoic orogeny and their directions are NW, NWW.

Unlike most older mountains on the mainland, many important islands in Korea were formed by volcanic activity in the Cenozoic orogeny. Jeju-do, situated off the southern coast, is a large volcanic island whose main mountain Mt. Halla (1950 m) is the highest in South Korea. Ulleung-do is a volcanic island in the Sea of Japan, who's composition is more feslic than Jeju-do. The volcanic islands tend to be younger as one moves westward.

Because the mountainous region is mostly on the eastern part of the peninsula, the main rivers tend to flow westwards. Two exceptions are the southward-flowing Nakdong River and the Seomjin River. Important rivers running westward include the Yalu, the Cheongcheon River, the Daedong River, the Han River, the Geum River, and the Yeongsan River. These rivers have vast flood plains and they provide an ideal environment for wet-rice cultivation.

The southern and southwestern coastlines of Korea form a well-developed Lias coastline, known as Dadohae in Korean. Its complicated coastline provides mild seas, and the resulting calm environment allows for safe navigation, fishing, and seaweed farming. In addition to the complex coastline, the western coast of the Korean peninsula has an extremely high tidal amplitude (at Incheon, around the middle of the western coast. It can get as high as 9 m). Vast tidal flats have been developing on the south and west coastlines.

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