Cultural Lore and Artistic Flair - I

Korea is a peninsula stretching southward from the center of the northeast coast of Asia. It is a beautiful country with a glorious history. The Korean peninsula has a land area of approximately 220,000km2and a coastline dotted with some 3,400 islands, large and small.
Korea is now the only nation on the globe remaining ideologically divided. Seventy million people of South and North Korea fervently cherish reunification with one heart. Through the historic summit meeting held recently between the leaders of South and North Korea, significant steps have begun to be taken toward cooperation and reunification.

The word 'Korea' refers to both North and South Korea, but here in the South it usually means the Republic of Korea with its population of 47 million, of whom 10 million live in the capital, Seoul. The city of Seoul boasts a 600-year history, and in 1988 it became famous throughout the world as the host of the 24th Summer Olympics. Korea will once more become a focus of worldwide attention when it co-hosts, together with Japan, the 2002 FIFA World CupTM tournament.

The national flower of Korea is the Mugunghwa, the Rose of Sharon. As it does not shrivel quickly, its blossoms of a subtle beauty remaining in bloom for a long time, it is often used to describe the dauntless spirit of the Koreans, who have overcome many ups and downs.

The national flag of Korea is called the Taegeukgi or 'Yin-Yang Flag.' With its blue and red yin-yang symbol on a white background, and black trigrams in each corner, the Taegeukgi embodies the philosophy of the Korean people. The white background is a symbol of peace, and also stands for the purity and homogeneity of the Korean people and the white clothing traditionally worn by Korean common folk. The blue and red yin-yang symbol interlocked at the center of the flag stands for the eternal duality from which all life derives its existence. Trigrams at the corners represent heaven, earth, sun and moon, and their philosophical derivatives.