About KOREA | KCCUK

Culture and the Arts

UNESCO Heritage in Korea

Korea’s vibrant cultural legacy, comprising music, art, literature, dance, architecture, clothing, and cuisine, offers a delightful combination of tradition and modernity. South Korea preserves ...

Traditional Arts

From Gugak to handicrafts, explore the traditional Korean arts

Hallyu (Korean Wave)

From the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, South Korean TV dramas and popular music gained great popularity in Asian countries such as China and Japan. In ...

Korean Life

Clothing and Fashion

Korea, surrounded by waters on three sides, features four distinct seasons and more mountains than plains. In these natural conditions, Korean people have developed unique ...

Food

Since ancient times, the Korean people have believed that food and medicine share the same origin and hence perform the same function, following the adage ...

Housing

Korean people have developed unique architectural techniques to build housing that is properly adapted to the natural environment, providing dwellers with better protection. One of ...

Festivals, Celebrations and Holidays

FestivalsUntil the mid-20th century, Korea was primarily an agricultural society, and the seasonal rhythms of daily life were organized by the lunar calendar. Because farming ...

Religion

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

Society

Copyright ©Photographer Jang Soo-min-Korea Tourism Organization

South Korea – Summary

Korea has a unique language and its own writing system, “Hangeul,” which was invented by King Sejong (1397–1450) during the Joseon dynasty. Korean are ...

Education, Research and Industry

Education SystemThe Korean people have long regarded education as very important. In the process of industrialization, human resources emerged as an important factor in connection ...

Copyright ©Photographer Lee Seong-u-Korea Tourism Organization

Labor and Social Welfare System

Korean Social Security SystemSouth Korea operates a labor and welfare system that meets international norms. It guarantees the three basic rights of labor. Public officials ...

Tourism

Harmony between Tradition and Modernity

South Korea boasts abundant tourist attractions. Tourists can experience distinctive harmony between historical cultural heritage and modern culture. With these preserved local identities, tourists can ...

Gourmet Travel

To experience Korean food culture properly, one should visit traditional markets. In a cozy atmosphere, visitors feel free to enjoy Korean food loved by the ...

Nature and Its Healing Power

South Korea has designated and operated national parks to preserve the natural ecosystems and natural and cultural wonders.

Travel Activities

Riding a bicycle, auto camping, luge and more

Popular Places (Attractions)

Popular spots in Seoul

Header image: Copyright©Photographer Korea Tourism Organization, Kim Jiho-Korea Tourism Organization

Local Festivals

Each region of South Korea has its own unique identity. This is because they have different traditions, specialties, and natural environments. To further strengthen and ...

Sports

History and Development of Korean Sports

Korean sports have taken an active part in the global arena over the past century, displaying Koreans’ fighting spirit even in harsh environments. In addition ...

Infrastructure for Promoting Sports

South Korea has a wider foundation for sports, as elite sports and sports for all are closely connected with each other.

Growth into a Sports Powerhouse

The reason why South Korea has been able to become a global sporting powerhouse is attributed to the people physically participating in a range of ...

Higher Status as a Host for International Competitions

After liberation from Japanese colonization, Korean sports have made extraordinary achievements. Particularly, since the 1976 Summer Olympics (Games of the XXI Olympiad) and the 1984 ...

Professional Sports, a History Written in Sweat

South Korea has professional leagues in sports: soccer, baseball, basketball, volleyball, e-sports and Go (baduk). Korean professional sports began to develop in 1982 when six ...

Transforming into an Advanced Sports Country

100 Policy Tasks of the Moon Jae-in Administration includes Task 72: To build a vibrant country where everyone can enjoy sports. The task is intended ...

History

The Beginnings of the Country’s History (Prehistoric Times - Gojoseon)

The history of the Korean nation began in Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula when people started settling there 700,000 years ago. Representative historic sites ...

Three Kingdoms and other States

Towards the end of the Gojoseon Period, tribal states came into being one after another in Manchuria and on the Korean Peninsula. Buyeo was established ...

Northern and Southern States Period: Unified Silla and Balhae

With the unification of the three Kingdoms on the Korean Peninsula in 668, Silla enjoyed a marked expansion of both its territory and population. Unified ...

Goryeo

By the late 8th century, Silla had been weakened by an internal struggle for power among the nobility; by the 10th century, leaders of powerful ...

Joseon

Towards the end of the 14th century, Goryeo found itself in a difficult situation due to internal and external problems, including a struggle for power ...

The Fall of Joseon: Imperial Japan’s Annexation of Korea

With the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, capitalism developed in Europe and large businesses came into being. European countries expanded their ...

Independence Movement

During the colonial period, the Japanese pillaged Joseon’s resources, banned the use of the Korean language–even going so far in 1939 as to ...

Transition to a Democracy and Transformation into an Economic Powerhouse

On May 10, 1948, the first general election was held in a democratic manner in South Korea under the UN’s supervision to elect the ...

Economy

The Korean Economy – the Miracle on the Hangang River

South Korea has achieved rapid growth in a short period. The country has displayed global competitiveness in various fields such as mobile phones, semiconductors, automobiles ...

Korea's Open Market Capitalist Economy

South Korea has adopted the open market economy, and is thus negotiating with other countries to sign more FTAs, as well as allowing foreigners to ...

Industrial Brand Leaders and Korean Industrial Standards

The government is committed to diversifying export items and enhancing their quality through the annual selection of first-rate quality goods. The project, which began in ...

Efforts to Grow as a Global Power

At present, South Korea is putting every effort into transforming itself into a global economic system. Although the country accomplished rapid growth within a short ...

Inter-Korean Relations

Peace, A New Start; The ‘Panmunjeom Declaration’

South Korea has ceaselessly made efforts to relieve tensions on the Korean Peninsula and open up a new path toward peace. As a result, the ...

Historical Background

With Japan’s surrender in the Pacific War in August 1945, four decades of Japanese colonial rule ended and U.S. and Soviet troops came ...

Inter-Korean Exchanges and Cooperation

Between September 1990 and October 1992, the two Koreas engaged in a total of eight bilateral meetings, including the first high-level talks held in Seoul ...

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Efforts for Lasting Peace

The government of the South has made efforts for a permanent settlement of peace on the Korean Peninsula and the development of good relations with ...