South Korea: Difference between revisions

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South Korea spent a while after that war under various authoritarian governments, but is now a democracy (officially) and has been so since 1987. It is also one of the "Asian Tigers", making a major economic leap in the 1980s.

South Korea is a close ally of the United States (who saved the country in the [[Korean War]]), but has problems with Japan for some [[World War Two|rather obvious reasons]]. These include the issue of "comfort women", women from Korea (plus China and a few other countries) forced into prostitution and sex slavery by the Japanese, which the Japanese government continues to deny. Then there's the issue of Japan trying to stomp out Korean language and culture, replacing it with Japanese language and culture. Even without [[World War Two]], [[Arch Enemy|Japan and Korea have never liked each other very much]]. Despite these historical issues, the two countries tend more toward [[Teeth Clenched Teamwork]] these days due to their shared interest in keeping [[North Korea]], [[Russia]], and [[China]] in check.

South Korea is a close ally of the United States (who saved the country in the [[Korean War]]), but has problems with Japan for some [[World War Two|rather obvious reasons]]. These include the issue of "comfort women", women from Korea (plus China and a few other countries) forced into prostitution and sex slavery by the Japanese, which the Japanese government continues to deny. Then there's the issue of Japan trying to stomp out Korean language and culture, replacing it with Japanese language and culture. Even without [[World War Two]], [[Arch Enemy|Japan and Korea have never liked each other very much]]. Despite these historical issues, the two countries tend more toward [[Teeth-Clenched Teamwork]] these days due to their shared interest in keeping [[North Korea]], [[Russia]], and [[China]] in check.

South Korea is ''not'' North Korea. South Koreans take great pains to refer to their country as "Korea," with no geographic distinction. In their minds, using the term "South Korea" gives an air of legitimacy to the totalitarian doppelganger across the border. Nowhere else in the world is there a homogeneous group of people so starkly divided by ideology.