...Classified as a Ural-Altaic language, Korean is currently spoken by nearly 78 million people worldwide. In addition to being the primary language in both North and South Korea, Korean is also spoken in parts of China, Japan, Brazil and Australia. Like many languages, the history of Korean can be divided into three distinct eras: Old Korean, Middle Korean and Modern Korean. The era of Old Korean spans a period known as the Three Kingdoms of Korea, which began with the Common Era and ended in about 1000 CE. During the Three Kingdoms, the Korean peninsula was divided into three distinct regions: * Goguryeo, which spanned the northern and middle area of the Korean peninsula; * Baekje, located in the southwestern region; * Silla, in the southeastern zone. This regional divide soon triggered the development of Korean dialects, as regional differences in culture nuanced Old Korean. While the Korean language was evolving, the Silla dialect was adopted as the standard form of the language. This period of time was also marked by the using Chinese ideograms, so-called Hanja. Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters (hanzi).[1] More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation. Middle Korean (중세국어, 中世國語) corresponds to Korean spoken from the 10th to 16th centuries, or from the era of Goryeo to the middle of Joseon. The language standard of this period is based on the...
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...few different countries that, in my opinion, would be enjoyable to visit and study their culture. One country in particular seems to stick out to me. I have always been taught about democracy in school, as well as other government styles, but have never first hand experienced another style of government. For this reason I chose North Korea, based on their centralized communist ways. I opinionate this to be an interesting way of life and would like to learn more about how people live under a communist government. From what I know about North Korea, rules seem strict and the people do not have the same rights as we do in the United States, which leaves me wondering how my life would be different, living under the same conditions as North Koreans. The geography of North Korea represents a peninsula, attached to Manchuria, China, and a small portion of the USSR (Geography). This 600 mile long peninsula is just above the 38th parallel, with a size of just above 45,000 square miles (Geo). With this, it makes the country itself smaller than the state of Pennsylvania. The make-up of the land in North Korea consists of several mountain ranges, lined up north to south, with small valleys in between each (Geo). This does not allow for many rural areas, leading to large cities populated by millions of people. The Yalu River forms a portion of the northern border with Manchuria (Geo). The mountains in the country prevent large farms, which results in importing a lot of the foods they eat...
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...Ever since I graduated from Dalhousie University, I have been teaching English in Korea. In July of 2007 I went to Daegu to teach at a hagwon. Before I graduated, I spent my last year of university researching Korean society and culture. I wanted to know as much about the country and people as possible before heading there. When I arrived in Daegu, I was surprised by how well I managed to fit in so quickly. I was expecting culture shock, as I had never been out of North America before. My students and co-workers thought it was strange of me to not feel isolated and alone in Korea, so far from Canada, but it was never an issue. Teaching English seemed the best way to explore Korea for a recently graduated individual. Although I was a novice in those first few weeks, my teaching skills improved due to constant exposure to the students. I found myself learning a lot about Korea, as well as my own cultural background (teaching is a two-way street; you impart knowledge but you also gain knowledge). It wasn’t long before I realized I was enjoying myself more in Korea than I had in Canada! My students were continuously under pressure to excel academically. I tried to ensure they were able to meet their goals and aspirations. It was always my focus to reduce their stress levels as much as possible. While I took their education very seriously, I also tried to add a little fun and joy into their lives. I often took it upon myself to plan and host parties for the students, independent...
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...The first Korean in America was political refugees. They moved to United States in 1885. Then 64 Koreans came to Hawaii to attend Christian mission schools. But most of them returned to Korea after schools finish. The first Korean immigrant group moved to the United States in 1903. This was the first major Korean immigration group. In Hawaii, the sugar plantation owners offered Koreans to work on their plantations. This paper will present History of Korean American in United States between 1903 and present. And give information about Why Korean moved to United States? What did they hope to find in the United States? and How they settle in Unites States. In January 13, 1903, on first ship 102 Koreans arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii. This group included 56 men, 21 women, and 25 children. Second ship carrying over 7000 Koreans on January, 1905. Most of these immigrants were single men or left their families in Korea. They...
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...KOREA Managing International Cultural Differences Fall 2010 Introduction The Republic of Korea, also known as simply South Korea or even just Korea has an extremely long, rich, and varied history. Some Korean mythology has the origins of Korea dating as far back as 2333 B.C. The first settlements occurred 700,000 years ago. The Goguryeo kingdom prospered from 37 B.C. until they fell to an alliance of Silla and Tang forces in 668 A.D. The Unified Silla Kingdom promoted development of culture and arts, and the popularity of Buddhism reached its peak from 676 – 935 A.D. The Goryeo Dynasty was established in 918. Buddhism became the state religion during this time and greatly influenced politics and culture. The Goryeo Dynasty’s strength decreased gradually in the latter half of the 14th century. The Joseon Dynasty was formed at the end of the 14th century and during this time Confucianism became the state ideology. The Joseon Dynasty produced the Korean alphabet, which was invented in 1443. Their power declined because of the Japanese invasion of 1592. The Japanese annexed Korea in 1910 and the Korean people suffered under their rule until Japan surrendered in 1945 to the United States of America which ended World War II. The economic and business industry continued to develop and change throughout this long period of history in which Korea was alternately controlled, occupied, unified, invaded, at war, at peace and at a cease fire by and with various other...
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...KOREAN LITERATURE Korean literature is the body of literature produced by Koreans, mostly in the Korean language and sometimes in Classical Chinese. For much of Korea's 1,500 years of literary history, it was written in Hanja. It is commonly divided into classical and modern periods, although this distinction is sometimes unclear. Korea is home to the world's first metal and copper type, world's earliest known printed document and the world's first featural script. ------------------------------------------------- General overview In general, the written arts have a tradition in epigraphic inscriptions on stones, in early tombs, and on rarely found bamboo pieces that formed early books. Repeated invasions and sacking of the east and west capitals, as well as the difficulty in preserving written texts on bamboo, make works before 1000 rare. Those works were entirely written in Chinese characters, the language of scholars, but of course incorporated Korean words and mindset. Medieval scholars in Korea learned and employed written Chinese as western schoolmen learned Latin: as a lingua franca for the region. It helped cultural exchanges extensively. Notable examples of historical records are very well documented from early times, and as well Korean books with movable type, often imperial encyclopedias or historical records, were circulated as early as the 7th century during the Three Kingdoms era from printing wood-blocks; and in the Goryeo era the world's first metal type...
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...God’s name and saving power. According to the People Groups website, since the year 2014, there are a total of 11,168 people groups in the world and 6,544 are unreached people groups. All unreached people groups are in dire need of the Gospel and it is God’s intention to have His people reach them. One unreached people group who are in desperate need for God is the Koreans in North Korea. With a population of 25,360,100 and a communist government that regulates all aspects of freedom, including religion, for its people, explains why North Koreans are approximately one percent evangelized. North Korea is ranked as the number one country where Christians are most persecuted for their belief. God remains faithful to His intent on reaching all peoples and Koreans are not the exception. In order to bring the Gospel to them, much planning, preparation, and training must take place before taking such a dangerous journey. It is the intention of this paper to devise a strategy to bring God’s name to this unreached people group. This paper will first discuss their background, historical events, language, society, and religions. Second, this paper will include a brief review of the history of...
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...BEGINNING KOREAN: A GRAMMAR GUIDE DAVID J. SILVA THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS AND TESOL DRAFT: AUGUST 2004 DO NOT CITE. Beginning Korean: A Grammar Guide Getting Started in Korean Note: This material is optional; ask your instructor / tutor if s/he would like to review these basic phrases during the first week of class. Listen carefully as your instructor teaches you the following greetings and classroom instructions. Don’t worry about grammar. Rather, listen to how each of these phrases sounds, and associate the sounds with what they mean and then learn how you should respond in each case. Basic Greetings 안녕 하세요? annyeong haseyo? Hello. / Greetings. (lit: Are you at peace?) - Yes. Hello / Greetings. Goodbye! Go well. (said to one leaving) Goodbye! Stay well. (said to one staying) - 네. 안녕하세요? ne. annyeonghaseyo? 안녕히 가세요. annyeonghi gaseyo. 안녕히 계세요. annyeonghi gyeseyo. Classroom Instructions 들으세요. deureuseyo. Listen(, please). Listen carefully(, please). Repeat (after me). Answer(, please). Speak up(, please). Speak louder(, please). 잘 들으세요. jal deureuseyo. 따라 하세요. ttara haseyo. 대답하세요. taedaphaseyo. 크게 말하세요. keuge malhaseyo. 더 크게 말하세요. deo keuge malhaseyo. ii Autumn 2004 D.J. Silva 일어나세요. ireonaseyo. Stand up(, please). Sit down(, please). Read(, please). Write (it down, please). Write it on the chalkboard(, please). Look at me(, please). Look at the chalkboard(,...
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...to business professionals about the Republic of Korea, the Korean culture, and the peculiarities of conducting business in this country. The topics discussed include a brief historical background about the nation, its dimensions of culture, how these elements are integrated by Koreans, and a comparison between these characteristics and American culture and business practices. The paper examines the implications for US firms wishing to do business in Korea using Hofstede’s Dimensions of culture, a SWOT analysis, and FDI analysis. Keywords: culture, religion, Confucianism, innovation, export, KORUS FTA Historical Background of Korea The Republic of Korea (ROK) is commonly known as South Korea. For the remainder of this paper, the ROK will be synonymous with "Korea". Korea is located in northeast Asia on the Korean peninsula between the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan. It borders the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), also called North Korea (nK), immediately to the north, across the 38th parallel. Korea's total land area is nearly 62,000 miles, slightly larger than Indiana (www.cia.gov). It has an ethnically homogeneous population of over 49 million people, 83% of which live in urban areas (www.cia.gov). According to legend, Korea's birth as a nation was in 2333 BC with its early inhabitants coming from and heavily influenced by China (Kim, 2012). Mark Peterson, associate professor of Korean Studies at Brigham Young University summarizes Korea's early...
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...Koryo means “high” and “clear.” This word symbolizes the clear blue sky of Korea. The beautiful nature of Korea is expressed through this ancient name. The beginning of Korean history started from 2333 B.C. The Korean peninsular adjoins China and Japan. Korea was conquered by Japan and divided into South and North Korea at the end of World War II. The Korean War caused devastating damage to Korea. However, it should be noticed that despite frequent foreign invasions, the Korean Peninsula has been under a single government while maintaining its political independence, culture and ethnic heritage. Not that long ago, South Korea was one of Asia’s economic success stories – one of the region’s hungry “tigers” looking around for new markets to conquer. Seoul, its capital, modernized in a very rapid amount of time to accommodate the needs of business travelers and has brought the country’s colorful traditions and trademark tranquility. The unique elements of culture The population of the Korean Peninsula, sharing a common language, ethnic identity, and culture, was one of the world’s most homogeneous. Although there were significant regional differences even within the relatively small land area of South Korea, neither the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) nor South Korea had significant non-Korean ethnic minorities. This homogeneity, and the sense of a shared historical experience that it promoted, gave the people of South Korea a strong sense of national purpose...
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...that can not be missed by anyone interested in understanding South Korea, with all its deep historical and cultural roots. This is the Korea which caused a economic and political miracle when in a relatively short period of time became a wealthy and democratic nation surpassing all its limitations of an "impossible country" Also, South Korea is considered to be an "impossible country" because of the pressure to which its citizens are exposed to accomplish goals that many times are unrealistic to most humans (the author's premises lead to the title of his book). The book begins with a brief history of Korea from its prehistory to the modern era. In the first part of the book, the author approaches the primitive Korean shamanism and the Musok-in (a female Korean shaman) tradition; the deep influence of Buddhism in Korea; and the historical contribution of Confucianism for Asian countries and how this ideology still influences modern Korea. Tudor also talks about the...
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...Treaty of 1876 that was made by empire of Japan. Japan ruled Korean from 1910-1945 directly through the way of military. In my opinion, I think what the Japan government did was really harmful to Korean in many aspects. During the period, the long-term invasion of empire of japan had increased the discontent in Korea. There were increased discontent issues from social, economic and education aspect. First of all, in the period of Korea under Japan rule, japan government even forced Korean people to change their name and more than 80 percent people were affected. Besides, Koreans were forced to work in Japanese factories and students were sent to be soldiers. Nobody in Korea had liberty in that period of time, and it increased the discontent in social issue. Moreover, one of worst things that made people detest is the “Comfort Women”. About 200,000 Korean women were captured and used as sexual slaves by Japanese soldiers. And many comfort women were died because of the overuse of Japanese soldier. The reason why the Japanese soldiers did it is pointed in Mindy Kotler’s article, “Imperial Japan’s military authorities believed sex was good for morale, and military administration helped control sexually transmitted diseases. Both the army and navy trafficked women, provided medical inspections, established fees and built facilities” (Kotler, 2014). I think these activities are inhuman and it had stimulated the anger from Korean people, and they began to revolt later. Secondly, under...
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...Korean Language Institute 214-1 Daedong Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk 712749, KOREA Tel: 82 53 810 7862 Fax: 82 53 810 4702 E-mail: kli@ynu.ac.kr http://kli.yu.ac.kr Application for Regular Course Personal Information Name: Family name (a s it appears on passport) First name (as it appears on passport) Middle name Date of birth: Month / Day / Year Gender: □ Male □ Female Country of citizenship: Country of birth: Mailing Address: Email: Are you already in Korea? □Yes □No Phone: If so, what type of visa do you have? Academic Information Name of home institution: Major Country Graduation Date: Course Registration Please indicate which session(s) you plan to register: □ 2013-1st □ 2013-3 rd March 11, 2013 ~ May 20, 2013 September 9, 2013 ~ November 21, 2013 □ 2013-2nd □ 2013-4 th June 3, 2013 ~ August 12, 2013 December 2, 2013 ~ February 13, 2014 Signatures I certify that the information submitted via this application is correct, that I am registering for this program, and that I am responsible for meeting all costs associated with the program. I certify that I have read the KLI terms and conditions (as well as housing conditions) included with this application I give the KLI permission to report my progress updates and transcripts to my sponsor (if applicable). Name of sponsor (if applicable) Signature of sponsor Relationship to Applicant Signature of applicant (required) Date (mm/dd/yyyy) Tuition & Fees The KLI requires...
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...development of Korea. It changed Korea’s history and caused a major upheaval in Korean society. However, the ultimate question is whether or not any good came of this brutal period of Korea’s past. The merciless and inhumane conditions Koreans endured caused great suffering that surpass any positive change implemented by Japan. It is a common misconception that Korea was a backward, dirty, uncivilized nation before Japan came and rescued it. Korea was in the process of modernizing on its own, despite their slow, problematic, difficult efforts, it was progress nonetheless. It is impossible to say what Korea could have done on its own because Japan stepped in and derailed the process. Since Korea was an agricultural country, Japan converted Korea “into a market for their goods, a source of inexpensive raw materials and labor, a place for capital investment and a strategic military point in the Far East” (Korean Communist Platform 464). The aim for Japanese expansion corrupted the lives of all Koreans because the Japanese invaded Korea and demanded control. The Japanese developed an infrastructure of roads, railroads and harbors to maximize profit and trade. Koreans had no choice in the matter and were forced to give up their land when the Japanese conducted land surveys. The Japanese wanted to “record the ownership of each farm property” to determine what each person owned (Kang 12). At this time, Koreans did not have any documentation of their farm properties so the Japanese took...
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...which decreased 0.21% from prior year. The export goods are semiconductors, wireless communications equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steels, ships and petrochemicals (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). In 2012 the country’s GDP was $1.622 trillion which ranks 13 on the world scale which increased 2.7% from previous year, and a GDP capita in US dollars was $32,400. The real GDP growth rate was 2.7%. The unemployment rate was 3.8% and the inflation rate was 2.2% (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). Socio-cultural environment Main language spoken and written in South Korea is Korean. The religious belief, from 2010 survey was that 43.3% have no religion, 24% are Protestants, 24.2% Buddhists, 7.6% Roman Catholic and 0.9% unknown (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). Korean families hold ancestral ceremonies for the previous three generations (great grandparents, grandparents and parents) several times a year, but main ones are: Chuseok (Korean...
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