South Korea

Korean states trace back to Gojoseon and the Three Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, which Silla unified in the late 7th century. The Goryeo dynasty, from which the name "Korea" comes, gave way in 1392 to the Joseon dynasty, a Confucian monarchy that lasted more than five centuries and under King Sejong produced the Hangul alphabet in 1443. Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and ruled it harshly until 1945, suppressing the language and conscripting labour and "comfort women".

At the end of the Second World War the peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel between Soviet and American zones, and in 1948 two rival states were declared. In 1950 the North invaded; the Korean War drew in China and a US-led UN force, killed millions, and ended in 1953 with an armistice — not a peace treaty — and a fortified Demilitarized Zone that still splits the peninsula.

The South was poor and politically unstable until Park Chung-hee's 1961 coup began a period of authoritarian, state-directed industrialisation — the "Miracle on the Han River" — that turned the country into an export powerhouse. Democracy came after mass protests in 1987, followed by the 1988 Seoul Olympics. A pattern has held since: rapid growth, cultural export, and presidents who repeatedly end up impeached or imprisoned. In December 2024 President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law; the National Assembly voted it down the same night and impeached him within days, the Constitutional Court removed him from office in April 2025, and Lee Jae-myung won the snap election that June; in February 2026 Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment over the martial law declaration.

Confucian norms still shape social life — respect for age and seniority, elaborate honorific speech, and an intense focus on education, with private cram schools (hagwon) and a national university-entrance exam day around which the country reorganises itself. Two ideas often explain interactions: jeong, a deep affectionate bond, and nunchi, the skill of reading a room.

Since the 2000s the "Korean Wave" (hallyu) has carried K-pop, television dramas, film — Parasite was the first non-English film to win the Best Picture Oscar, and Squid Game a global hit — webtoons, and cosmetics around the world. About half the population reports no religious affiliation; among those who do, Christians outnumber Buddhists, and shamanic and Confucian ritual continues alongside both, with Confucian ancestral rites (jesa) still observed by many families.

Everyday culture includes bathhouse and sauna (jjimjilbang) visits, all-night gaming rooms, a strong company-dinner drinking culture built on soju, and a society that is exceptionally online, cashless, and fast-moving.

About 51 million people live in South Korea, roughly half in the Seoul metropolitan area. The country has one of the world's lowest fertility rates, well below one child per woman, and is ageing quickly, with high poverty among the elderly. Most people live in high-rise apartment complexes, often secured through the jeonse system of a large refundable deposit instead of rent.

Working hours have long been among the OECD's longest; legal limits on the working week have been introduced to bring them down. Competition for good jobs, housing, and university places is fierce, and military conscription of around 18 months applies to almost all men.

Against that pressure, the infrastructure is excellent — fast broadband everywhere, same-day delivery, clean and punctual transport — and streets are safe at any hour.

Every meal centres on rice, an array of small side dishes (banchan), and kimchi, the fermented vegetable staple that comes in hundreds of forms. Barbecue is the social meal: samgyeopsal pork belly, bulgogi marinated beef, and galbi short ribs grilled at the table. Stews such as kimchi-jjigae and doenjang-jjigae (fermented soybean paste) are everyday comfort food.

Street and snack food (bunsik) includes tteokbokki (rice cakes in chilli sauce), gimbap rolls, blood sausage, and fish cake, while naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles) is a summer favourite and Korean fried chicken with beer — "chimaek" — an institution. Korean-Chinese dishes like black-bean jjajangmyeon form their own tradition, and Buddhist temple cuisine is a refined vegetarian strand.

Fermentation runs through the cuisine — soy and chilli pastes, salted seafood (jeotgal), and of course kimchi. Drinks include soju, the milky rice wine makgeolli, and a growing craft-beer scene.

Seoul combines the Joseon palaces — Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung and its Secret Garden, and the Jongmyo royal shrine — with the hanok lanes of Bukchon, the markets of Gwangjang and Namdaemun, and modern landmarks like the N Seoul Tower and Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Day trips reach the DMZ, though tours to the truce village of Panmunjom have been suspended or restricted since 2023, so check before booking.

Gyeongju, the old Silla capital, is an open-air museum of royal tomb mounds, temples, and the UNESCO-listed Bulguksa and its Seokguram grotto. Andong preserves Confucian academies and the Hahoe folk village. Busan, the big southern port, offers Haeundae beach, the cliffside Gamcheon culture village, and the Jagalchi fish market.

Jeju Island, formed by volcanoes, has the peak of Hallasan, lava-tube caves, a dramatic coast, and the haenyeo women free-divers. On the mainland, Seoraksan and Bukhansan national parks give sharp granite hiking close to the cities, the Boseong hillsides are terraced with tea, and temple-stay programmes let visitors spend a night in a working monastery. Spring cherry blossom and autumn foliage are events in their own right.