South korea Introduction

South Korea, formally the Republic of Korea is a country in Far East Asia. It occupies the southern half of the Korean Peninsula that lies between the Yellow Sea and the East Sea (Sea of Japan). It is bordered to the north by North Korea, and Japan lies across the Korea Strait to the southeast.

South korea Weather

The weather in South Korea is of the four-seasons variety:

Springs here are chilly with frequent drizzle; summers are hot and often rainy, with the heaviest rainfall during the monsoon season (June - July).

The fall months are beautiful and pleasant, as dry cooler winds blow in from the north. Winters bring much colder conditions, with snow or rain. Milder winter temperatures are the norm along the southern coastal islands.

Winter high temperatures (November - February) seldom rise above 45º F, and in the higher elevations, low temperatures below -10º F are common. Summers (June - August) enjoy high temperatures in the 80s, and in the far south, conditions border on tropical.

South korea Attractions

Seoul

South korea History

At the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into the Soviet Union-occupied northern half and the United States-occupied southern half. Despite promises of unification in the 1943 Cairo Declaration and thereafter, each half formed its own government in 1948. Prior to 1945, the peninsula had been united for more than 1,000 years.

On June 25, 1950, the Korean War broke out.[3] The United Nations-backed South and the Communist-backed North eventually reached a stalemate and an armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along the demilitarised zone at about the original demarcation line. A potential Korean reunification has remained a prominent topic; no peace treaty has yet been signed with the North, so technically, South Korea and the North are still at war. In June 2000, a historic first North-South summit took place, part of the South's continuing Sunshine Policy of engagement. Since then, regular contacts have led to a cautious and slow thaw.

After the war, the autocratic government of Syngman Rhee was thrown out of power by a student uprising and a brief period of civilian rule was established in 1960. This was followed by a military coup and the rise of Park Chung-hee, who was president from 1962 until his assassination in 1979. The Park regime saw rapid economic growth and severe political repression, trends which continued under successor Chun Doo-hwan.

Chun's seizure of power was greeted by widespread protests culminating in the 1980 Gwangju massacre. In the aftermath of that incident, the movement for democracy gained strength and was ultimately successful in forcing a change to civilian democratic rule in 1988.

South korea Politics

The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic with powers shared between the president, legislature and judiciary. Since 1948, the Constitution underwent five major revisions, each signifying a new South Korean republic. The current Sixth Republic began with the last major constitutional revision, in 1988.

The Head of State is the president, who is elected by direct popular vote for a single five-year term. In addition to being the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the president also has considerable executive powers. The president appoints the prime minister with approval of the National Assembly, as well as appointing and presiding over the State Council of chief ministers.

The South Korean legislature is the National Assembly, a unicameral body in which members serve a four-year term of office. This legislature currently has 299 seats, of which 243 are elected by regional vote. The remainder are distributed by proportional representation.

The South Korean judiciary is largely independent of the other two branches. The highest judiciary body is the Supreme Court, whose justices are appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly. In addition, the Constitutional Court oversees questions of constitutionality.

The main political parties in South Korea are the Uri Party, the Grand National Party (GNP), the Democratic Labor Party (DLP), and the Democratic Party (DP). The Uri Party was formed in late 2003 from a liberal faction of the DP (then the Millennium Democratic Party). The Uri Party gained a slim majority in the National Assembly in the April 2004 legislative elections, but lost that majority in subsequent by-elections. The conservative GNP and centrist DP form the dominant political opposition. The progressive DLP is aligned with labour unions and farmers' groups, and constitutes the left-wing opposition.