The Koreas: North and South
D28-PPT2 Korea East Asia
Isolated Land
•  Known as the hermit kingdom
–  Surrounded by water on three sides and by
mountains on its northern border (1)
•  East: Sea of Japan
•  West: Yellow Sea
•  South: Korea Strait
•  Korea s location has shaped its history
Ancient Korea and Foreign
Influences
•  Historic settlers migrated from Manchuria
and north China (2)
•  Controlled by different clans or tribes
•  2000 BC- Choson became first state
•  100 BC- China and Japan began invading
Korea
–  Korea has been a buffer between China and
Japan
History
•  300s- Koreans began to
win back territory
–  Three Kingdoms: Koguryo
(NE), Paekche (SW), and
Shilla (SE)
–  660s- Shilla conquered
other two kingdoms and
ruled for hundreds of years
(3)
•  1392- Yi Songgye
became ruler of Korea
and founded a dynasty
–  Lasted until 1910, when
Japan took control
–  Japan ruled Korea until
defeat in WWII in 1945 (4)
Two Koreas: North and South
(5)
•  Northern part of Korea
controlled by Soviet
Union after WWII
•  Southern part
supported by US
•  1950- Korean troops from
north invaded South
Korea
–  Korean War ended in 1953
with a treaty that divided
the peninsula between
Communist North Korea
and the Democratic South
Korea
Chinese Influence on Korean
Culture
•  China influenced many aspects of
Korean culture including language,
religion, and art (6)
–  Religion and philosophy especially
influenced by China
•  Confucianism
–  Stresses social order
•  Buddhism
Kim Jong Un is current dictator of North Korea.
Other Cultural Influences
•  Two major influences since WWII
–  Communism
•  Molded culture of North Korea
•  Only art that glorifies communism or folk tradition is allowed
by government
–  Western Culture
•  Major impact on South Korea (7)
•  Artists have freedom of expression and draw from their own
history and Western art
Moving Towards Unity
•  Many years of mutual hostility
•  Armed Society
–  Build up of huge armies
•  North Korea: millions of troops
•  South Korea: 600,000 sailors and soldiers
–  War has been a real threat along border
–  Border is guarded by nearly 2 million
troops on both sides (8)
A Single Flag
•  June 2000
–  Leaders of both Koreas
declared intentions to
reunite
•  Agreed to reduce
tensions along border
•  Clear land mines to
build a rail link
•  Allowed families of
North Korea and South
Korea to visit each
other
•  2000 Olympics
–  Two Koreas entered
Olympic Stadium under
a new flag designed for
a single, unified Korea
(9)
Economic Patterns
•  Agricultural economy before the Korean
War
–  South Korea gained industrial strength after the
war
•  Resources of each country balance out the
other
–  If the two united, Korea would have a VERY
strong economy
•  North Korea would provide the natural resources and
raw materials for South Korea’s industries
•  South Korea is an economic tiger
–  Highly successful and competitive economy
–  Largest shipbuilding industry (10)
Population Patterns
•  Most people live on
plains along the coast
or on river valleys in
the mountains
•  South Korea has 45 %
of the land area and
66% of the population
•  Seoul: largest city in
South Korea with 10
million people
•  Pyongyang: largest
city in North Korea with
2.5 million people (11)
THE JAKOTA TRIANGLE
•  The JAKOTA Triangle encompasses Japan,
South Korea, and Taiwan. It is an area with
large cities, a massive consumption of raw
materials from around the globe, enormous
export capacity, and global links to finances &
aggressive trade.
Exports from Jakota Triangle Countries
Japan’s Total Exports: 413 billion (1999)
Hong Kong 5.2%
S. Korea 5.4%
China 5.5%
Taiwan 7%
Each pie graph shows the exporting country’s most important trading partners.
In each case, the United States is the biggest customer; however, “Other”
(countries not mentioned by name in the graph) is the largest segment of
each pie. The icons show some important industries in each country.
South Korea’s Total Exports:
144 billion (1999)
Taiwan’s Total Exports:
121.6 billion (1999)
Singapore 3%
Taiwan 7%
China 9%
Other
45.9%
U.S.
31%
Other
58%
JAPAN
SOUTH
KOREA
Japan 10%
Other
40%
U.S.
17%
U.S.
26%
Japan 9%
Seoul
TAIWAN
Hong
Kong
21%
Taipei
Tokyo
Yokohama
Nagoya
Osaka
Industry
Automobile
manufacturing
Chemicals
Electronic products
Steel and metals
Office machinery
Plastics
Textiles
Machinery and
equipment