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INTRODUCTION
While traveling to the Republic of Korea, glance through the reminiscence left over by the Joseon dynasty or watch out for the tallest statue of bronze made Buddha that attracts several pagodas and travelers from all over of the world. Observe the Asian art that are inscribed in the temple of Bulguska, or tour to the tombs of 20 Korean rulers along the Tumuli Park that still retains its age old culture. Maintaining a rich culture, and a marvelous heritage jaunt to this destination of South Korea that greets you with exquisite attractions.
The Republic of Korea is an East Asian state nestled along the Korean Peninsula towards its southern side. The province is engulfed by North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) from the northern end, the Yellow Sea towards the western end, where diagonally placed is the continent of China, while Japan is positioned along the Korea Strait towards the southeastern side.
Physical Map of South Korea
The Republic of Korea is mountainous in nature with major portion lying uncultivated. The western and the southeastern region are marked with lowlands, which covers about 30 % of the total land space. South Korea is separated into four chief physical regions, namely:
- High mountain ranges and tapered coastal plains (eastern front);
- Broad coastal plains, watercourse basins, and undulating hills (western front);
- Mountains and valleys (southwestern front); and
- Nakdong River's Broad basin (southeastern front).
The South Korea flag is designed with three distinct parts, a white background, a red and blue colored taeguk positioned in the middle and four trigrams, placed in each corner of the flag surrounding the taeguk.
Recognized as Taegeukgi by the natives, where Gojong declare and accepted the Taegeukgi as the official flag of Korea during the month of 6 March 1883. The concept behind the flag derived from the Taoist concept that is based on yin and yang. The white base denotes the prevalent of peace within the region. The taeguk is even referred to as taiji symbolizes the emergence of all kind of possessions in the universe. Taeguk believes in two chief principles of Eum , that depicts the negative feature inscribed in blue, and Yang , shows the positive phase inscribed in red, that creates a perfect stability, when merged together. The four black trigrams covering the taeguk from all four corners stand for Force, Field, Radiance and Gorge.
Climate of South Korea
or the Republic of Korea witnesses four chief seasons that can be categorized as spring, fall, summer, and winter. The best time to jaunt to this location is between the months of September to November. autumn affects the province during the monsoon time, which is accompanied with slight amount of down pouring with relatively mild atmosphere. Capture the chilly feeling emerging from the Siberian frosty winds that can be felt during the month of winter monsoon. Winters are usually cold during the month of January while mid-March is massively affected with biting and freezing cold. The southern province is prone to typhoon during the months of late June till September. The climate is temperate in nature with heavy showers during the summer season.
Flora And Fauna of South Korea
The northern hilly area is covered with alpine plants while the central and the western lowlands are covered with broad-leaved deciduous vegetation. Along the southern coast and the offshore islands of Chejudo and Ullungdo one can catch up with warm-temperate plants. Several evergreen plants are even found along the southern regions of Japan.
Watch out for fauna species like Amur goral, Manchurian weasel, roe deer, brown bear, tiger, lynx, deer, northern pika, water shrew, muskrat, pine grosbeak, Manchurian ring-necked pheasant, black grouse, hawk owl, and three-toed woodpecker that can be sighted easily. Some of the noteworthy wildlife that is preserved in the region due to their extinction is Kuroda's Sheldrake bird, Siberian Tiger, Magpie, the national bird of the region and Red Fox.
PEOPLE OF REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Korean is the local dialect spoken in the region though English is widely accepted. The population of South Korea is filled with Korean with about 20,000 Chinese residents. The prevalent religion thriving in this region are Christianity, Buddhism and Confucianism. The Korean language gains its influence from the Japanese and Mongolian region. Minor religion like Jeungsando and Wonbuddhism even seem to thrive within the region. Shamanism, the spirit worship and Chondogyo that lead to Heavenly Way are the local custom, which the natives resort to.
ARTS, CULTURE AND MUSIC OF REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Art: Watch out for realistic landscapes that are based on different themes like flowers, birds, and lives of common people and much more. Glance through the calligraphic representation, which has Chinese phrases inscribed in it that praises Confucian ethics, which includes filial piety and dedication inscribed within it. Several sculptures are made out of bronze, stone, and rock that gain its inspiration from Buddhism. The Sakyamuni Buddha is known as one of the major national artwork within the region.
Culture: Koreans celebrate their New Year festival by wearing their traditional attire known as hanbok and thereby greeting their parents with a big bow which is natively called as sebae. One eats ttok-kuk, the rice cake soup during this auspicious day. Participate in the Ch'usok, harvest festival where you may catch up with natives consuming songp'yon (half-moon-shaped rice cakes). Kut is executed in several occasions like getting good fortune, curing sickness, showing the path of heaven taken by the spirits of departed person, which is accompanied with songs, dances, and chants.
Music: Korean music can be identified with two kinds of rhythm namely the folk and classical, relating to courtly feeling like sanjo, pansori and nongak. Korean court music can be classified into three types namely aak, hyangak and dangak. P'ansori is the native folk vocal music that involves singing and storytelling while being accompanied by a changgo (the conventional musical drum). Kut and nong-ak are known as the farmer's celebration music, which is combined with the local dance. Mask dances are even popular in the area, which involves satiric drama.
ECONOMY OF REPUBLIC OF KOREA
South Korea stands in the tenth position as one of the largest economy in the world while being third largest within Asia just after Japan and China.
China is the sole trading partner as far as export is concerned. Exports of manufactured goods have created a boom within the economic sector.
South Korea's per capita income has risen 12 times than that of the North Korea. South Korea witnessed severe exploitation during the year 1950, where the area infrastructure was greatly hampered by the Korean War. After then, the country was to a greater extent dependent on the US aid. Later on emphasis was laid on the economic growth where the economy undertook a five-year recovery plan. Foreign trade was highlighted with emphasis made on trade and investment. Light and heavy industries played a major role in the development of the industry.
The economy took a major upsurge and was even called as the "Miracle on the Han River", as this river of Han seems to pass through the national capital of the region, that is Seoul. It was during 1990, textiles and shoes were greatly exported, that brought in revenue within the province. The area produces goods like shipbuilding, automobiles, electronics, steel and later, mobile phones, digital monitors, and semiconductors.
The economy was regulated with reasonable inflation, low unemployment, addition of export, and equal allotment of income that brought about its stability.
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