Korea

• LENGUAGE, The Korean language is spoken by more than 65 million people.

• POPULATION, 49,115,196

• PRODUCTION, Electronic equipment: $138,234,071,000 (24.1% of total exports)

• RELIGION, Korea is a country where all the world’s major religions, Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism and Islam, peacefully coexist with shamanism.

• CINEMA, The term "Cinema of Korea" (or "Korean cinema") encompasses the motion picture industries of North and South Korea. As with all aspects of Korean life during the past century, the film industry has often been at the mercy of political events, from the late Joseon dynasty to the Korean War to domestic governmental interference.

• ARCHITECTURE, the built structures of Korea and their context. Like the other arts of Korea, architecture is characterized by naturalistic tendencies, simplicity, economy of shape, and the avoidance of extremes.

• CUSTOMS, When entering a Korean home, you must remove your shoes. To do any less is a sign of great disrespect. Like the Japanese, the Koreans eat rice with almost every meal. It’s so ingrained in their culture that one of their most common greetings is Bap meogeosseoyo?, or ‘Have you eaten rice?”. Koreans are an extremely proud people, and sometimes this pride transforms into white-hot nationalism.

• HOLYDAY, New Year's Day (January 1st) Referred to as Solar New Years by most Korean citizens.

Lunar New Year (First Day of the First Month by the Lunar Calendar) One of the most celebrated holidays in Korea (and east Asia). Visiting family, worshipping ancestors, eating traditional Korean dishes and taking part in century old traditions all come to life during this color national holiday.

Korean Independence Day (March 1st) Koreans observe the anniversary of the March 1, 1919 Independence Movement against Japanese rule.

• CURRENCY, The Korean Won is the currency in South Korea (Republic of Korea, KR, KOR).

• DISHES, Bulgogi Bulgogi is one of South Korea’s most famous mainstream dishes internationally. Seasoned beef in a savory sauce with mixed vegetables is a delicious choice any day of the week.

• FRUIT, Bokbunja ju (Korean black raspberry)

• FOOD EXCLUSIVE, Kimchi To say that all Korean’s LOVE Kimchi would be an understatement. Kimchi is more or less a ‘food group’ in Korea and all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) will be accompanied by some type of Kimchi side dish. Kimchi is generally made of fermented cabbage and seasoned with different ingredients. Many Korean’s have a second full size fridge that’s dedicated to storing various types of Kimchi.

• EDUCATION, The results of the international school tests - known as Pisa tests - are to be published by the OECD on Tuesday. In previous years, South Korea has been one of the highest achievers. But it means long hours of study

• MUSIC, The Music of South Korea has evolved over the course of the decades since the end of the Korean War, and has its roots in the music of the Korean people, who have inhabited the Korean peninsula for over a millennium. Contemporary South Korean music can be divided into three different main categories: Traditional Korean folk music, popular music, or K-pop, and Western-influenced non-popular music.

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