South Korea is an Asian nation, occupying the southern portion of the Korean peninsula, bordering North Korea, the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan. The country has a wide coastal plain as well as numerous hills and mountains, with unfortunately frequent typhoons as part of its climate. South Korea also has a number of natural resources including coal, molybdenum, graphite, lead, and tungsten. At the end of WWII, the Korean peninsula was divided into Soviet and U.S. zones of occupation, culminating in the Korean War when the northern forces invaded the south in 1950. The border between the two countries remains one of the most heavily militarized in the world.
South Korea is considered a developed economy and a regional powerhouse. It is a global leader in technology and is primarily an export-driven economy with a focus on electronic, automobiles, shops, petrochemicals and robotics.
With a population of about 50 million, South Korea is relatively homogenous in terms of represented ethnic groups, with Korean and English as its official languages. South Korean culture borrows heavily from the Chinese and Japanese cultures evident by the nation’s focus on Confucianism. The country is also one of the top performing countries in reading literacy, math and the sciences and has one of the most highly educated labor forces in the world.
