South Korea: Difference between revisions

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]].

South Korea spent athe whilebetter afterpart thatof warthe [[Cold 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 hasis also known for its contentious problemsissues 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 independent scholarship has failed to find any evidence for outside of Korean propaganda:. scholarsScholars instead find that Korean women were sold by Korean kidnappers and family members to Korean run brothels when demand increased, while the Japanese actually worked ''[http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/10/summary-of-professor-park-yuhas-book.html against]'' this sex slavery. In response dissenting scholars have been arrested and heavily fined by the South Korean government, a move which drew criticism from western governments. 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.

And of course, we have to mention the popularity of ''[[Starcraft]]'' and ''[[Starcraft 2II|its sequel]]. To say it has a professional sportse-esquesports culture built around it and other games over the years would be [http://www.cracked.com/article_18763_5-insane-true-facts-about-starcraft-professional-sport.html absolutely accurate.]

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.is/YzrtO forcing Korean companies to aid them in this]. The government has declared video games a "[http://archive.is/hHGSp disease]" and despite South Korea's e-sports image, [http://archive.is/Li14o banned playing them in many circumstances]; those "addicted" to games are even forced [http://blogjob.com/oneangrygamer/2016/03/how-south-koreas-government-is-destroying-the-korean-gaming-industry/ into government camps]. As mentioned above, scholars who produce research or works dissenting from the accepted line are heavily fined if not arrested. Related to these is growing concern among a number of South Koreans over social trends leaning towards [[Political Correctness Gone Mad]].

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). TheWhile 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.

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 I (Video Game)|Age of Empires I]]'' they received tower bonuses, in ''[[Age of Empires II|Age of Kings]]'' more tower and stone bonuses,. While in ''[[Rise of Nations]]'', yet more tower bonuses, building repair bonuses and [[La Résistance]] bonuses, in addition to having their own unique aesthetic style. Regardless of that, their unique unit in these games has been the Hwach'a , the Hwach'a, the Hwach'a and the Turtle Ship, and the Hwach'a and Hwarang, respectively.