Corea del Sur

"La República de Corea (hangul: , hanja: , romanización revisada: Daehan Minguk, McCune-Reischauer: Taehan Min'kuk)?, comúnmente conocida como Corea del Sur para distinguirla de Corea del Norte, es un país de Asia Oriental, ubicado en la parte sur de la península de Corea. Limita al norte con la República Popular Democrática de Corea (RPDC o Corea del Norte), con la cual formó un solo país hasta 1945. Al este se encuentra el mar de Corea o el mar del Este, al sur el estrecho de Corea, que lo separa de Japón, y al oeste el mar Amarillo. Su territorio comprende la mitad sur de la península de Corea englobando unas tres mil islas que la rodean, dentro de las cuales se destacan Jeju, Ulleungdo y Dokdo. Aproximadamente la mitad de la población del país vive en su capital, Seúl, o en su zona metropolitana, que es una de las áreas metropolitanas más pobladas del mundo (algunas fuentes la ubican como la segunda más poblada, sólo detrás de Tokio, en Japón). Corea es una de las civilizaciones más antiguas del mundo. Investigaciones arqueológicas revelaron que la península fue poblada desde el Paleolítico Inferior. A través del tiempo, la historia de Corea ha sido turbulenta con numerosas guerras, incluyendo invasiones tanto de China como de Japón. Desde el establecimiento de la república moderna en 1948, Corea del Sur luchó con las secuelas de conflictos bélicos anteriores como la ocupación japonesa (1910-1945), además de la Guerra de Corea (1950-1953) y las décadas de gobiernos autoritarios. Mientras que el gobierno adoptó oficialmente una democracia de estilo occidental desde la fundación de la república, los procesos de elección presidencial sufrieron grandes irregularidades. No fue sino hasta 1987 cuando se llevaron a cabo las primeras elecciones justas y directas, por lo que desde entonces el país es considerado una democracia multipartidista. La economía de Corea del Sur ha crecido rápidamente desde la década de 1950. Hoy en día, es la 13ª economía más grande (por PIB PPA) del mundo y está clasificado como país desarrollado por la ONU, el Banco Mundial y el Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI). También se encuentra entre los países más avanzados tecnológicamente y mejor comunicados; es el tercer país con mayor número de usuarios de Internet de banda ancha entre los países de la OCDE, siendo también uno de los líderes globales en producción de aparatos electrónicos, dispositivos semiconductores y teléfonos móviles. También cuenta con una de las infraestructuras más avanzadas en el mundo y líder mundial en la industria de la construcción naval, encabezada por compañías prominentes como Hyundai Heavy Industries."

"("Republic of Korea" and "ROK" redirect here. For the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, see North Korea. For other uses, see Korea and ROK (disambiguation).) South Korea (), officially the Republic of Korea (ROK; ), is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. Highly urbanized at 92%, South Koreans lead a distinctive urban lifestyle; half of them live in high-rises concentrated in the Seoul Capital Area with 25 million residents and the world's sixth leading global city with the fourth largest economy and seventh most sustainable city in the world. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC. The name Korea is derived from one of them, Goguryeo, also known as Kory, which was a powerful empire and one of the great powers in East Asia, ruling Northeast China and parts of Russia and Inner Mongolia under Gwanggaeto the Great. Since their unification into Later Silla and Balhae in the 7th century, Korea enjoyed over a millennium of relative tranquility under long lasting dynasties with innovations like Hangul, the unique alphabet created by Sejong the Great in 1446, enabling anyone to easily learn to read and write. Its rich and vibrant culture left 17 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Korea was annexed by Imperial Japan in 1910 due to its strategic and central location, after whose surrender in 1945, it was divided into North and South Korea. A North Korean invasion led to the Korean War (195053). Peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the world's 10th largest defence budget. South Korea's tiger economy soared at an annual average of 10% for over 30 years in a period called the Miracle on the Han River, rapidly transforming it into a high-income economy and the world's 11th largest economy by 1995. A long legacy of openness and focus in innovation made it successful. Today, it is the world's fifth largest exporter and seventh largest importer with the G20's largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. In 1987, it became a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage and is today Asia's most advanced democracy with high government transparency, universal healthcare, freedom of religion and fundamental rights protected by the most developed rule of law in East Asia. High civil liberties led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon green growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC and Paris Club contributor and rated highly in peaceful tolerance and inclusion of minorities. South Korea is East Asia's most developed country in the Human Development Index. It has the world's eighth highest median household income, the highest in Asia, and its singles in particular earn more than all G7 nations. Globally, it ranks highly in personal safety, education, job security, ease of doing business and healthcare quality, with the world's third highest health adjusted life expectancy and fourth most efficient healthcare system. It leads the OECD in graduates in science and engineering. Home of Samsung, the world's leading smartphone and TV maker, LG and Hyundai-Kia, South Korea was named the world's most innovative country in the Bloomberg Innovation Index, ranking first in business R&D intensity and patents filed per GDP. It has the world's fastest Internet speed and highest smartphone ownership, ranking first in ICT Development, e-Government and 4G LTE coverage. In 2005, it became the world's first country to fully transition to high-speed Internet and start the world's first mobile TV broadcast with 97% of cellphones already having Internet access."