Alt Hist Korea Factbook (UNUSED, ancient)

Korea (Hanja: 朝鮮; Hangul: 조선 Joseon; formally Hanja: 朝鮮國; Hangul: 조선국; Joseon-guk), is a sovereign state located on the Korean peninsula in East Asia and North America.

Etymology

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Until 108 BC, northern Korea and Manchuria were controlled by Gojoseon. In contemporaneous Chinese records, it was written as 朝鮮, which is pronounced in modern Korean as Joseon (조선). Go (古), meaning "ancient", distinguishes it from modern Korea.

Possibly the Chinese characters phonetically transcribed a native Korean name, perhaps pronounced something like "Jyusin". Some speculate that it also corresponds to Chinese references to 肅愼 (숙신, suksin), 稷愼 (직신, jiksin) and 息愼 (식신, siksin), although these latter names probably describe the ancestors of the Jurchen.

Other scholars believe 朝鮮 was a translation of the native Korean Asadal (아사달), the capital of Gojoseon: asa being a hypothetical Altaic root word for "morning", and dal meaning "mountain", a common ending for Goguryeo place names.

An early attempt to translate these characters into English gave rise to the expression "The Land of the Morning Calm" for Korea, which parallels the expression "The Land of the Rising Sun" for Japan. While the wording is fanciful, the essence of the translation is valid.

History

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Prehistory and antiquity

arigatou tte tsutaetakute anata wo mitsumerukedo
tsunagareta migite wa yori mo yasashiku
kono koe wo uketometeru

Early modern

Governance

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itsumademo tada itsumademo
anata to waratteitai kara
shinjita kono michi wo

Government

Korea has a parliamentary form of government with a bicameral legislature called the Jungchuwon.

The lower house, the Junguiwon, has half of its members directly elected and half of its members elected through proportional representation.

Korea's upper house, the Gwijogwon, is composed entirely of professionals who are appointed by the monarch upon recommendation by the Prime Minister for life terms. The fact that the Gwijogwon is unelected remains controversial in Korea, and there have been calls to reform or even abolish it entirely.

Korea has no voting age. Suffrage is open to all citizens who pass the Voting Acquisition Exam, available every two months for those who pay a small fee, although the fee may be waived for those who are low-income. Since 1976, it has been mandatory for high school seniors to take the test near the end of the year, without cost to the students. In 2014, 91.4% of those 18 and above are eligible to vote, a number that has been gradually rising.

The Voting Acquisition Exam has often been considered increasingly outdated; calls have been made for universal adult suffrage, an idea increasingly popular with Koreans.

Korea has two main parties, the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party, along with various smaller parties. The Democratic Party is currently in a coalition government with the Justice Party.

Foreign relations

Military

Administrative divisions

Geography

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Economy

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Korea is a modern capitalist nation specializing in the IT industry, electronics, shipbuilding, automobile production, and entertainment. The more populated south serves as the nation's breadbasket, although the country's shift from an agricultural economy to an industrial and then post-industrial economy has meant that Korea now imports much of its food. Unlike its Japanese neighbor, Korea is not deprived of mineral wealth, with rich reserves located in the northern part of the peninsula.

Korea's economy is dominated by large conglomerations known as chaebol; while it is prestigious to work for them, they are also a symbol of elitism, decadence, and corruption. Business leaders and politicians often have ties to each other, to the distress of those who lean toward the left. While wealth disparity is increasing, it is not to the extent of some other developed countries.

Demographics

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Korea is a highly ethnically homogeneous society, with over 98% of the people on the Korean peninsula being ethnically Korean. Yudong and Alaska are more racially diverse, with Koreans making up only 82% of the population of Alaska and 79% of the population of Yudong.

Immigration laws differ between Korea, Alaska, and Yudong, with more relaxed laws regarding immigration to Alaska and Yudong, and the peninsula's immigration laws generally being more restrictive.

Education

Competition is fierce in Korea when it comes to education - the vast majority of students either attend private academies following immediately after public school hours end or hire private tutors to enhance their chances at entering a top university. The relative lack of social interaction and intense competition among students results in a high suicide rate among secondary school students. The difficulty of entering top Korean universities also means that many decide to study overseas at high-ranking foreign universities, which some perceive as easier to get into, especially for students from wealthier families.

Over 90% of Korean high school graduates attend college, and 68% of Koreans between the ages of 25-34 have at least a bachelor's degree, a much higher percentage than in other developed countries.

The necessity and heavy presence of private academies and tutors in Korean education have wrought heavy criticism from many, the main complaint being that those with better access to wealth have better access to an education, and that such a system reinforces the unofficial yangban class while keeping the poor poor, out of line not only with progressive thought but also meritocratic Confucian ideals. Nonetheless, previous attempts to ban private academies and tutors have tended to be a massive failure, and the amount of regulation they face generally tends to change depending on who is in power.

People in Korea tend to be concerned with the fact that Korea tends to spend a massive amount on education but sees little return on those investments; spending less on education by a family would however mean a more difficult time entering the job market, a harder time finding a spouse, and social discrimination due to appearing less intelligent or less educated.

Languages

Korean is the official language of the country and the most widely spoken language in the country. Students generally begin learning a second language in third grade, and a third language once they enter ninth grade. This does not necessarily mean that all are fluent in the languages they study; this is especially true for those studying languages radically different from Korean.

Korea's various dialects are all mutually intelligible; on the island of Jeju a related language is spoken in addition to standard Korean (pyojun'eo).

Yudong and Alaska present higher levels of linguistic diversity due to the indigenous populations and higher rates of immigration.

Religion

In 2011, 61% of Koreans were unaffiliated with any religion. The largest religion was Muism, with 22% considering themselves to be Muists, and the second largest religion was Buddhism, with 16% of Koreans identifying themselves as Buddhists. Muism and Buddhism are greatly syncrentized in Korea, and even irreligious people generally partake in traditional religious rituals. Although Buddhism was suppressed from the establishment of the Yi dynasty until the late-19th century, it saw a great revival in the 20th century.

A high percentage of Koreans do not consider religion to be very important in their life.

Health

Korea has a single-payer universal healthcare system.

Culture

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Art

Music

쓸쓸하던 그 골목을
당신은 기억하십니까
지금도 난 기억합니다
사랑한단 말 못하고
애태우던 그 날들을
당신은 알고 있었습니까

철 없었던 지난 날의
아름답던 그 밤들을
아직도 난 사랑합니다

철없던 사람아
그대는 나의 모든 것을
앗으려 하나 무정한 사람아

수줍어서 말 못했나
내가 싫어 말 안했나
지금도 난 알 수 없어요

이 노래를 듣는다면
나에게로 와주오
그대여 난 기다립니다

무정한 사람아
이 밤도 나의 모든 것을
앗으려 하나 철 없던 사람아

오늘 밤도 내일 밤도
그리고 그 다음 밤도
영원히 난 기다립니다

Literature