Korean language in the context of Samguk Sagi

The Yellow Sea (simplified Chinese: 黄海; traditional Chinese: 黃海; pinyin: Huáng Hǎi; Korean: 황해; Hanja: 黃海; RR: Hwanghae), also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea.

Jeju Island (Jeju and Korean: 제주도; Hanja: 濟州島; RR: Jejudo; pronounced [tɕeːdʑudo]) is South Korea's largest island, covering an area of 1,833.2 km (707.8 sq mi), which is 1.83% of the total area of the country. Alongside outlying islands, it is part of Jeju Province and makes up the majority of the province.

The island lies in the Korea Strait, 82.8 km (51.4 mi) south of the nearest point on the Korean Peninsula. The Jeju people are indigenous to the island, and it has been populated by modern humans since the early Neolithic period. The Jeju language is considered critically endangered by UNESCO. It is also one of the regions of Korea where Shamanism is most intact.

The Seoul metropolitan area (Sudogwon; Korean: 수도권, [sʰu.do.k͈wʌ̹n]) or Gyeonggi region (경기 지방), is the metropolitan area of Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province, located in north-western South Korea. Its population of 26 million (as of 2024) is ranked as the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the world. Its area is about 12,685 km (4,898 sq mi). It forms the cultural, commercial, financial, industrial, and residential center of South Korea. The largest city is Seoul, with a population of approximately 10 million people, followed by Incheon, with three million inhabitants.

Gyeonggi Province (Korean: 경기도; RR: Gyeonggi-do, Korean pronunciation: [kjʌ̹ŋ.ɡi.do̞]) is the most populous province in South Korea.

Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level special city since 1946. Incheon, the nation's third-largest city, is on the coast of the province and has been similarly administered as a provincial-level metropolitan city since 1981. The three jurisdictions are collectively referred to as Sudogwon and cover 11,730 km (4,530 sq mi), with a combined population of over 26 million - amounting to over half (50.25%) of the entire population of South Korea, and a third of the population of the Korean peninsula at the 2020 census.

Paekche or Baekje (Korean: 백제; Hanja: 百濟; RR: Baekje; MR: Paekche; pronounced [pɛk̚.tɕ͈e]) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the highest population of approximately 3,800,000 people (760,000 households), which was much larger than that of Silla (850,000 people) and similar to that of Goguryeo (3,500,000 people).

Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jumong and Soseono, at Wiryeseong (present-day southern Seoul). Baekje, like Goguryeo, claimed to succeed Buyeo, a state established in present-day Manchuria around the time of Gojoseon's fall.

Joseon (English: /ˈtʃoʊsʌn/ CHOH-sun; Korean: 조선; Hanja: 朝鮮; MR: Chosŏn; pronounced [tɕo.sʰʌn]; also romanized as Chosun), officially Great Joseon (대조선국; 大朝鮮國; [tʰɛ.dʑo.sʰʌn.ɡuk̚]), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom was founded after the overthrow of Goryeo in what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was moved to modern-day Seoul. The kingdom's northernmost borders were expanded to the natural boundaries at the rivers of Amnok and Tuman through the subjugation of the Jurchens.

Over the centuries, Joseon encouraged the entrenchment of Confucian ideals and doctrines in Korean society. Neo-Confucianism was installed as the new state's ideology. Buddhism was accordingly discouraged, and occasionally Buddhists faced persecution. Joseon consolidated its effective rule over the Korean peninsula and saw the height of classical Korean culture, trade, literature, and science and technology. The kingdom was severely weakened by failed Japanese invasions in 1592 and 1598, which were followed by invasions by the Later Jin dynasty in 1627 and the Qing dynasty in 1636–1637. The country pursued an increasingly harsh isolationist policy, becoming known as the "hermit kingdom" in Western literature. After the end of these invasions from Manchuria, Joseon experienced a nearly 200-year period of peace and prosperity, along with cultural and technological development. What power the kingdom recovered during its isolation waned as the 18th century came to a close. Faced with internal strife, power struggles, international pressure, and rebellions at home, the kingdom declined rapidly in the late 19th century.

Keijō (Japanese: 京城), or Gyeongseong (Korean: 경성), was an administrative district of Korea under Japanese rule that corresponds to the present Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

The 1988 Summer Olympics (Korean: 1988년 하계 올림픽), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad (제24회 올림픽경기대회) and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (서울 1988), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represented at the games by a total of 8,391 athletes (6,197 men and 2,194 women). 237 events were held and 27,221 volunteers helped to prepare the Olympics.

The 1988 Seoul Olympics were the second summer Olympic Games held in Asia, after Tokyo 1964, and the first held in South Korea. As the host country, South Korea ranked fourth overall, winning 12 gold medals and 33 medals in the competition. 11,331 media (4,978 written press and 6,353 broadcasters) showed the Games all over the world. These were the last Olympic Games of the Cold War, as well as for the Soviet Union and East Germany, as both ceased to exist before the next Olympic Games in 1992. The Soviet Union dominated the medal count, winning 55 gold and 132 total medals. The results that got closest to that medal haul in the years since are China's and the United States's 48 gold medals in 2008 and 2012, respectively, and the United States's 126 total medals in 2024.

The Four Asian Tigers (a.k.a. the Four Asian Dragons or Four Little Dragons in Chinese and Korean) are the developed Asian economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Between the early 1950s and 1990s, they underwent rapid industrialization and maintained exceptionally high growth rates of more than 7 percent a year.

By the early 21st century, these economies had developed into high-income economies, specializing in areas of competitive advantage. Hong Kong and Singapore have become leading international financial centres, whereas South Korea and Taiwan are leaders in manufacturing electronic components and devices; Taiwan now produces the most advanced semiconductor chips in the world; South Korea has also developed into a major global arms manufacturer. Large institutions have pushed to have them serve as role models for many developing countries, especially the Tiger Cub Economies of Southeast Asia.

Amitābha (Sanskrit pronunciation: [ɐmɪˈtaːbʱɐ], "Measureless" or "Limitless" Light), also known as Amituofo in Chinese, Amida Butsu in Japanese, Amita-bul in Korean, A Di Đà Phật in Vietnamese, and Öpakmé in Tibetan, is one of the main Buddhas of Mahayana Buddhism and the most widely venerated Buddhist figure in East Asian Buddhism. Amitābha is also known by the name Amitāyus ("Measureless Life").

Amitābha is the main figure in two influential Indian Buddhist Mahayana Scriptures: the Sutra of Measureless Life and the Amitābha Sūtra. According to the Sutra of Measureless Life, Amitābha established a pure land of perfect peace and happiness, called Sukhāvatī ("Blissful"), where beings who mindfully remember him with faith may be reborn and then quickly attain enlightenment. The pure land is the result of a set of vows Amitābha made long ago. As his name means Limitless Light, Amitābha's light is said to radiate throughout the cosmos and shine on all beings. Because of this, Amitābha is often depicted radiating light, a symbol for his wisdom. As per the name Amitāyus, this Buddha is also associated with infinite life, since his lifespan is said to be immeasurable. Amitābha's measureless life is seen as being related to his infinite compassion.

A pitch-accent language is a type of language that, when spoken, has certain syllables in words or morphemes that are prominent, as indicated by a distinct contrasting pitch (linguistic tone) rather than by volume or length, as in some other languages like English. Pitch-accent languages also contrast with fully tonal languages like Vietnamese, Thai and Standard Chinese, in which practically every syllable can have an independent tone. Some scholars have claimed that the term "pitch accent" is not coherently defined and that pitch-accent languages are a sub-category of tonal languages in general.

Languages that have been described as pitch-accent languages include: most dialects of Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, Baltic languages, Ancient Greek, Vedic Sanskrit, Tlingit, Turkish, Japanese, Limburgish, Norwegian, Swedish of Sweden, Western Basque, Yaqui, certain dialects of Korean, Shanghainese, and Livonian.

Korean court music (Korean: 궁중음악; Hanja: 宮中音樂) comprises three main musical genres: aak, an imported form of Chinese ritual music; a pure Korean form called hyangak; and a combination of Chinese and Korean styles called dangak.

Korean court music and its historical origins can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BCE–668), the Unified Silla (668–935), Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon dynasties (1392–1910). It was partly modelled on the court music of China, known as yayue. Korean court music also shows similarities with the court music of Japan, known as gagaku and of Vietnam, known as nhã nhạc, which also are also derivative of yayue.

Hanja (Korean: 한자; Hanja: 漢字; IPA: [ha(ː)ntɕ͈a]), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period.

Hanjaeo (한자어; 漢字語) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, which can be written with Hanja, and hanmun (한문; 漢文) refers to Classical Chinese writing, although Hanja is also sometimes used to encompass both concepts. Because Hanja characters have never undergone any major reforms, they more closely resemble traditional Chinese and traditional Japanese characters, although the stroke orders for certain characters are slightly different. Such examples are the characters 教 and 敎, as well as 研 and 硏. Only a small number of Hanja characters were modified or are unique to Korean, with the rest being identical to the traditional Chinese characters. By contrast, many of the Chinese characters currently in use in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore have been simplified, and contain fewer strokes than the corresponding Hanja characters.

Ganghwa Island (Korean: 강화도), also Ganghwado, is an island in Ganghwa County, Incheon, South Korea. It is in the Yellow Sea and in an estuary of the Han River.

The island is separated from Gimpo (on the South Korean mainland) by a narrow channel spanned by two bridges, and from Kaesong (Gaeseong) in North Korea by the main channel of the Han River. It offers some of the closest views in the South of North Korean villages, which can be seen on clear days from less than two kilometers.

Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; Chinese and Japanese: 皇太后; pinyin: huángtàihòu; rōmaji: Kōtaigō; Korean: 황태후 (皇太后); romaja: Hwang Tae Hu; Vietnamese: Hoàng Thái Hậu (皇太后)) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chinese cultural sphere. The term however, is applied well beyond just East Asia.

The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of grand empress dowager (Chinese and Japanese: 太皇太后; pinyin: tàihúangtàihòu; rōmaji: Taikōtaigō; Korean: 태황태후 (太皇太后); romaja: Tae Hwang Tae Hu; Vietnamese: Thái Hoàng Thái Hậu (太皇太后)). An empress dowager wielded power over the harem and imperial family. Numerous empress dowagers held regency during the reign of underage emperors. Many of the most prominent empress dowagers also extended their control for long periods after the emperor was old enough to govern. This was a source of political turmoil according to the traditional view of Chinese history.

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (Korean: 한반도/조선반도 비무장 지대) is a heavily militarized strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in half. It was established to serve as a buffer zone between the sovereign states of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) under the provisions of the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, an agreement between North Korea, China, and the United Nations Command.

The DMZ is 250 kilometers (160 mi) long and about 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) wide. There have been various incidents in and around the DMZ, with military and civilian casualties on both sides. Within the DMZ is a meeting point between the two Korean states, where negotiations take place: the small Joint Security Area (JSA) near the western end of the zone.

Koreanic is a compact language family consisting of the Korean and Jeju languages. The latter is often described as a dialect of Korean but is mutually unintelligible with mainland Korean varieties. Alexander Vovin has also suggested that the Yukjin dialect of the far northeast should be similarly distinguished.

Korean has been richly documented since the introduction of the Hangul alphabet in the 15th century. Earlier renditions of Korean using Chinese characters, however, are much more difficult to interpret.

Grand empress dowager (also grand dowager empress or grand empress mother) (Chinese and Japanese: 太皇太后; pinyin: tàihuángtàihòu; rōmaji: taikōtaigō; Korean: 태황태후 (太皇太后); romaja: Tae Hwang Tae Hu; Vietnamese: Thái Hoàng thái hậu (太皇太后) was a title given to the grandmother, or a woman from the same generation, of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere.

Some grand empresses dowager held regency during the emperor's childhood. Some of the most prominent empress dowagers extended their regencies beyond the time when the emperor was old enough to govern alone. This was seen as a source of political turmoil, according to the traditional views of Chinese historians.

The Kantō Massacre (關東大虐殺; Korean: 간토 대학살) was a mass murder in the Kantō region of Japan committed in the aftermath of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. With the explicit and implicit approval of parts of the Japanese government, the Japanese military, police, and vigilantes murdered an estimated 6,000 people: mainly ethnic Koreans, but also Chinese and misidentified Japanese, and Japanese communists, socialists, and anarchists.

The massacre began on the day of the earthquake, September 1, 1923, and continued for three weeks. A significant number of incidents occurred, including the Fukuda Village Incident.

Zelkova serrata (Japanese zelkova, Japanese elm, keyaki, or keaki; Japanese: 欅, romanized: keyaki or 槻, tsuki; simplified Chinese: 榉树; traditional Chinese: 櫸樹; pinyin: jǔshù; Korean: 느티나무; RR: neutinamu) is a species of the genus Zelkova native to Japan, Korea, eastern China and Taiwan. It is often grown as an ornamental tree, and used in bonsai. There are two varieties, Zelkova serrata var. serrata in Japan and mainland eastern Asia, and Zelkova serrata var. tarokoensis (Hayata) Li on Taiwan which differs from the type in its smaller leaves with less deeply cut serration on the margins.