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{{Useful Notes}}
[[File:SOUTH-KOREA-MAP-S--KOREAN-HavenWorks-com_5086.gif|frame]]
[[File:Flag_of_South_Korea.svg|thumb|The South Korean flag]]▼
The Republic of Korea, far better known as '''South Korea''', is a country in North East Asia. After spending thirty-five years under Japanese occupation, the Korean peninsula was divided in two after the [[Reds with Rockets]] showed up.
The most notable event in the history of South Korea is the [[Korean War]], sometimes called the Six Twenty Five War, which is [[Forever War|still technically ongoing to this day]].
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'''No non-offensive joke possible''':
It's a truism that dog meat is a popular delicacy in South Korea. A quick way to get an "Oooohhh!" from the audience in a [[Panel Show]] is to joke about it. Animal welfare groups scream "animal cruelty". The Koreans scream "cultural imperialism" back. Any argument goes nowhere fast. The Western aversion to eating dogs is so ingrained that it's ripe for [[Stealth Parody]], as [
Koreans have been called the "Irish of the Far East" for enduring a lot from the Imperial China, Japan, and the Mongols. The Japanese occupation of Korea actually made Korean nationalism stronger, and the tension from the two groups could be considered the equivalent of Polish-Russian relations, due to the fact the Japanese population has a nasty habit of denying anything their country ever did to Korea (and pretty much everyone else).
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Also worth mentioning is religion, specifically the presence of Christianity. Just under 30% of all South Koreans are Christian; 1/3 of these are Catholic, while the rest are Protestants of varying description. The reasons for this include extensive proselytism in the late 19th century, the decrepit state of Korean Buddhism at that time, and the association of Christianity, particularly Protestantism, with leaders of the Korean nationalist movement.<ref>Korean Christians had worked hard to reconcile Christian and traditional Korean values and were at the forefront of the Korean independence movement under the Japanese</ref> Ironically, Pyongyang was the major center of pre-1945 Korean Christianity, with the Christians fleeing south only after the Communists taking over the north. Furthermore, of the ten presidents of the ROK, four have been Protestant, one Catholic, with three Buddhists and two irreligious. As a result, South Korea is one of the most Christian countries in East Asia; it is certainly the most Protestant (the only Christian-majority countries in East Asia are the Catholic Philippines and Timor Leste). Various cults and movements, usually derived from Christianity are also known to exist, including the controversial Unification Church (aka, the "Moonies"). As for other religions, the traditional Buddhism (or more accurately syncretic mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism, and traditional beliefs) of Korea has about 22% of the population; most of the rest are irreligious.
'''Popular Sports in South Korea''':
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Baseball is second biggest international sport, where most of the teams are owned by large companies. They have their own eight-franchise league "Korea Professional League", and the Korean Olympic team won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Bejing, China. Since 1994, there have been a total of 12 South Korean nationals that have played or are playing for Major League Baseball franchises in the United States.
The popularity of NBA stars such as Jeremy Lin, Ha Seung Jin, and Moon Tae Jong have given rise to the popularity of basketball in South Korea, although they are a powerhouse in their own right, ranked #l 3 overall with 23 medals for the Asian Basketball Championship (now known as FIBA).
And of course, we have to mention the popularity of ''[[
'''Human rights abuse and other issues''':
While western media largely remains ignorant of these details, South Korea has a less than stellar record for human rights and freedom of expression, though not necessarily like its northern brother. South Korea is ''very'' much in love with spying on its citizens and tracking everything they do online by social security number while [https://archive.
'''South Korea in fiction''':
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A lot of South Korea's appearances in foreign fiction are to do with its relationship with the North. The country is occasionally inaccurately thought to be poor and technologically backward, which, understandably, annoys the locals no end. But Korea was a pretty poor country during the 1950s: it only became rich and technologically progressive in the last forty years. In fact, according to Martin Meredith in his book The Fate of Africa, South Korea had a lower per capita GDP than Ghana during [[The Sixties]]. As described above, South Korea is one of the world's most dynamic economies. North Korea is more or less as depicted in the recent [[James Bond]] film ''[[Die Another Day]]''.
South Korea produces quite a few movies and shows of its own, not counting the considerable amount of American and [[Anime|Japanese]] stuff animated there to save costs. [[Korean Movies|Korean cinema]] has also become very popular across eastern Asia and has enjoyed a small following in the west. The most notable recent film from the country to make it to the west is ''
South Korea produces comic books called [[Manhwa]]. Unlike Japanese manga, manhwa read like Western comic books (sort of like how Koreans drive on the right side of the road and the Japanese drive on the left). While also influenced by its Japanese counterparts, its general style is different from manga in that the art work tends towards realism. Manhwa is also used to define animation. South Korea is home to several animation studios. They supply inbetweening work for American and Japanese animation studios as well for home grown productions. Manhwa production ground to a halt under the Ministry of Women (formally the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family; 여성가족부), in which animated porn (whatever the government chooses to define it as that day) carries a harsher sentence than child rape. South Korea has also their own take on webcomics, namely [[Korean Webtoons|Webtoons]], who are closer to current manga trends as they favor fantasy oriented plots; unlike traditional printed manwa, webtoons are becoming increasingly popular in the west, due to ubiquity and abundance.
The most
The other popular Korean media exportation is [[Korean Pop Music|K-Pop]], as they have perfected the Idol-producing machine to levels never seen before. South Korea prefers large, multitudinous groups that can be subdivided in smaller units, with a sound derived of hip-hop trends and very polished visual image. While early pop acts from the country were known by small groups of western fans thanks to dramas and the rhythm game series ''[[Pump It Up]]'', it was with the sudden, memetic popularity of the song ''Gangnam Style'' by pop singer PSY, that interest for South Korean music increased in the mainstream. As of late 2010s-early 2020s, the boy band [[BTS (band)|BTS]] is the most popular representative of South Korean music in the world.
South Korea figures prominently in any ''[[Lost]]'' episode centering on Sun and Jin. These sequences are notable in that they are entirely in Korean (with subtitles) rather than employing a [[Translation Convention]]. Sun is played by Yunjin Kim, who achieved fame in South Korea before coming to the US. Jin, however, is a [[Fake Nationality]], played by American Daniel Dae Kim.
In strategy games, they tend to be [[Stone Wall]] turtlers: In ''[[Civilization]] III'' they received only peaceable civ bonuses, in ''Civ IV'' they received the Protective trait, the ultimate turtling benefit, and in ''Civ V'' they received scientific bonuses and a unique naval unit that can't venture beyond coastal waters but is insanely difficult to destroy, and is even called the Turtle Ship. In ''[[Age of Empires
[[Techno Babble|Oh, sorry, right:]]
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* Korea under Japanese rule
** [[No Koreans in Japan]]
=== Korean Culture ===
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* [[The Korean War]]
=== [[Korean Media]] ===
* [[
* [[Korean Pop Music|K-Pop]]:
* [[Korean Movies]]:
* [[Korean Series]]:
* [[Manhwa]]
** [[Korean Webtoons]]
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{{examples|Works of fiction set (but not produced) in South Korea include:}}
== Literature ==
* ''Battle Born'', [[Dale Brown]]'s twelfth novel, is a fictionalized account of the reunification of the two Koreas.▼
== Live-Action TV ==
▲* ''Battle Born'', [[Dale Brown]]'s twelfth novel, is a fictionalized account of the reunification of the two Koreas.
* ''[[Lost]]'': The US series had two Korean characters.
* ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|M*A*S*H]]'': A US television series set during [[The Korean War]].
▲[[File:Flag_of_South_Korea.svg|thumb]]
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Useful Notes/Asia]]▼
[[Category:Useful Notes/South Korea]]
[[Category:index]]
▲[[Category:South Korea]]
▲[[Category:Asia]]
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