새해 복 많이 받으세요

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! Seollal was today, which is the first day of the Lunar Korean calendar. It is the most important holiday in Korea. Many Koreans will spend this holiday with their families and perform ancestral rituals in the morning. Many Koreans will dress up in traditional hanbok and play traditional games and fly kites. Today, Ben and I went to Gyeongbok Palace. They had special games and crafts set up for the holiday. There were many more people there than I expected. All of the little kids were making kites or masks wearing their traditional hanbok. Some of the adults were wearing traditional Korean clothing as well.



Korea is such a beautiful place with such a rich and deep history. The Koreans have been through so much and have come such a long way, especially South Korea compared to their North Korea counterpart. I didn't really know much about this country before I came here, so I'd like to tell you all what i have learned. Korea is a peninsula in East Asia. South Korea occupies the southern half and North Korea occupies the northern half. North Korea is bordered by China to the north and South Korea is bordered by Japan to the south. Seoul is the capital of South Korea and is the second largest metropolitan city in the world. South Korea is in a temperate climate region with a mostly mountainous terrain. Seoul is surrounded by mountains.

Korea was founded in 2333B.C. from various tribes from Mongolia. The first dynasty ruled from Pyongyang (Northern Korea) from 2333BC to 1122BC. After that, the Chinese controlled much of the Northern part of Korea while three kingdoms emerged each controlling a part of the Southern part of the peninsula. The Chinese influence on Korea was great, bringing customs and Confucianism to the people. Buddhism was introduced to Korea in the fourth century AD and many temples were built. The Chinese and Mongolians occupied Korea and tried to control it many times throughout the years. In 1388, Korea was ruled by the Joseon Dynasty. The first 200 years of the Dynasty were relatively peaceful. It was during this period that King Sejong the Great created Hangul (the Korean language used today) and the influence of Confucianism became greater. He also moved the capital to Seoul. In the 16th century, Japan invaded Korea. Much of Korea was destroyed before the Japanese retreated. Then came another 200 years of relative peace. Korea did not trade with the rest of the world during this period, giving them the name "The Hermit Kingdom." They were trying to avoid Western imperialism.

Korea turned to Japan for trade. Eventually Korea fell under Japanese domination. In 1910, Japan turned Korea into a Japanese colony. The Japanese destroyed many Palaces and Temples. They made Koreans take Japanese names and forced them to speak Japanese. Japan wanted to make Korea a part of Japan and only failed when Japan surrendered to the allies in 1945. The Russians invaded Northern Korea in 1945, just when the Japanese were retreating and American were coming into Korea from the South. So, after World War II was over, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel with Communist Russia in the North and the Americans in the South. The two powers were planning on unifying the peninsula but the Cold War interrupted that plan. The Russians installed a Communist government in the north and the Americans a Democratic government for the south.

The North Korean army invaded the south on June 25th, 1950. They quickly drove south and captured Seoul. The U.N. and the U.S. sent troops over to help drive back the communists. They drove them back far over the 38th parallel until the Chinese jumped in to help the North Koreans. The war went on for three years and finally ended in a stalemate and a cease fire was signed. The once unified peninsula is still divided at the 38th parallel with one of the most heavily patrolled borders known as the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ. No peace treaty was ever signed and the two countries are technically still at war.