DEMOGRAPHICS The combined population of the Koreans is about 73 million (North Korea: 23 million, South Korea: 50 million).
Korea is chiefly populated by a highly homogeneous ethnic group, the Koreans, who speak the Korean language.
The number of foreigners living in Korea has also steadily increased since the late 20th century, particularly in South Korea, where more than 1 million foreigners currently reside.
CULTURE & ARTS Korean festivities often showcase vibrant colors, which have been attributed to Mongolian influences: bright red, yellow, and green often mark traditional Korean motifs. These bright colors are sometimes seen in the traditional dress known as hanbok.
One peculiarity of Korean culture is its age reckoning system. Individuals are regarded as one year old when they are born, and their age increments on New Year's Day rather than on the anniversary of their birthday. Thus, one born on December the 31st would be aged two on the day after they were born. Accordingly, a Korean person's stated age will be one or two years more than their age expressed in the Western tradition.
CULTURE & ARTS Korean traditional dance does not necessarily follow the forms of Western dance; however it does share some similarity with a commonly known form of dance also known as contemporary and lyrical.
Moves follow a curvilinear path with little short term repetition. The dancer's legs and feet are often entirely concealed by billowing Hanbok. Emotional attributes of the dances include both somberness and joy. The dancer must embody the fluid motion that surges through the traditional music that the dancers perform to. Korean traditional dance is often performed to Korean traditional music, which includes traditional drums, flutes, and more. The music is what upholds the dance and the dancer is the tool that shows the music in physical form.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY As of 2008 South Korea ranked 5th highest in terms of R&D.
Park Kye-jung, CEO of Ace Electronics, won the Gold and Silver prizes for his invention of motor and motor-equipped gear at the 23rd Invention and New Product Exposition, he took the gold medal with his invention of a special device that converts vibrations from a running car into electric power.
During the INPEX held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania sixteen Korean inventions received awards, including four gold prizes, three silvers, three bronzes and six special prizes. The Pittsburgh INPEX had inventors from 20 countries, contenders from Australia, Germany, the United States and 11 other countries submitted 160 items.
Seoul is ranked as the world's "leading digital city" and a "tech capital of the world". South Korea is also among the world's most technologically advanced and digitally-connected countries; it has the third most broadband Internet users among the OECD countries and is a global leader in electronics, digital displays, semiconductor devices, and mobile phones.
CUISINE Korean cuisine is probably best known for kimchi, which uses a distinctive fermentation process of preserving vegetables, most commonly cabbage. Gochujang(Korean traditional sauce made of red pepper) is also commonly used, often as pepper (chilli) powder, earning the cuisine a reputation for being spicy.
Bulgogi (roasted marinated meat, usually beef), galbi (marinated grilled short ribs), and samgyeopsal (pork belly) are popular meat entrees. Meals are usually accompanied by a soup or stew, such as galbitang (stewed ribs) and doenjang jjigae (fermented bean paste stew). The center of the table is filled with a shared collection of sidedishes called banchan. It is also usually accompanied by Soju, a popular Korean alcoholic drink made from rice.
Other popular dishes include bibimbap which literally means "mixed rice" (rice mixed with meat, vegetables, and pepper paste) and naengmyeon (cold noodles).
Also, instant noodle called ramyeon is popular. Koreans also enjoy food from pojangmachas (street vendors), where one can buy fish cake, Tteokbokki (rice cake and fish cake with a spicy gochujang sauce), and fried foods including squid, sweet potato, peppers, potato, lettuce. Soon-Dae, a sausage made of bean curd and green-bean sprouts stuffed in pig intestine, is widely eaten.
The combined population of the Koreans is about 73 million (North Korea: 23 million, South Korea: 50 million).
Korean festivities often showcase vibrant colors, which have been attributed to Mongolian influences: bright red, yellow, and green often mark traditional Korean motifs. These bright colors are sometimes seen in the traditional dress known as hanbok.
Korean traditional dance does not necessarily follow the forms of Western dance; however it does share some similarity with a commonly known form of dance also known as contemporary and lyrical.
As of 2008 South Korea ranked 5th highest in terms of R&D.
Korean cuisine is probably best known for kimchi, which uses a distinctive fermentation process of preserving vegetables, most commonly cabbage. Gochujang(Korean traditional sauce made of red pepper) is also commonly used, often as pepper (chilli) powder, earning the cuisine a reputation for being spicy.