South Korea

South Korea occupies the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, sealed off from the mainland by the fortified Demilitarised Zone along its border with North Korea. Most of the land is hill and mountain, with the Taebaek range running down the east coast, so farms and cities concentrate in the west and south. Those coasts are ragged with bays and islands, and the Yellow Sea side has broad tidal flats. Jeju, a volcanic island to the south, is crowned by Hallasan, the country’s highest peak. Summers are hot and wet, winters cold and dry.

The kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla gave way to Goryeo, the source of the name Korea, and then to the Joseon dynasty, which ruled from 1392 to 1910. In the 1440s King Sejong’s scholars created Hangul, an alphabet designed so that anyone could learn it. Japan annexed Korea in 1910. After 1945 the peninsula was divided, and the Korean War of 1950–53 ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. The South then industrialised at great speed and became a democracy in 1987.

Respect for family, education and elders runs deep, and the university entrance exam is a national event: flights are held back so the listening test stays quiet. Each late autumn, households make kimchi together in a ritual called kimjang. Korean pop music, dramas and films have found audiences worldwide. Family-controlled business groups, the chaebol, make semiconductors, smartphones, cars, ships and steel in industrial cities such as Ulsan and Pohang.