South Korea

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia, comprising the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. The name Korea comes from Goguryeo, a former powerful kingdom in East Asia that ruled the Korean Peninsula, most of Manchuria, the Russian Far East, and parts of Inner Mongolia under Gwanggaeto the Great. Its capital, Seoul, is a major global city[16] and half of South Korea's more than 51 million people live in the Seoul National Capital Region, the world's fourth-largest metropolitan economy.

The first settlements on the Korean Peninsula occurred during the Lower Paleolithic period. Its first kingdom appears in Chinese records in the early 7th century BC. After the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea with Silla and Balhae in the late 7th century, Korea was ruled by the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) and the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897). The Korean Empire was annexed to the Empire of Japan in 1910. After World War II, Korea was divided into Soviet and US-administered regions; the latter became the Republic of Korea in August 1948. After the Korean War ended in 1953, the country's economy began to boom, recording the fastest growth in average GDP per capita in the world between 1980 and 1990. Authoritarian rule ended in 1987, and the country now has one of the highest levels of press freedom in Asia. South Korea is a member of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee, the G20, and the Paris Club.

South Korea is a highly developed country and the world's 10th largest economy by nominal GDP. Its citizens have equal access to the world's highest quality healthcare, with the world's fastest internet access and the world's longest years of higher education, leading to the world's second-highest health-adjusted life expectancy. As the world's 9th largest exporter and 9th largest importer, South Korea is a global leader in many technology and innovation-focused areas. South Korea has been ranked the world's most innovative country by the Bloomberg Innovation Index for 6 consecutive years since 2014. Since the 21st century, South Korea has been famous for its globally influential pop culture, such as K-pop and TV dramas, a phenomenon referred to as the Korean Wave.