History UsefulNotes / SouthKorea

* ''AnalogueAHateStory'': A VisualNovel about a Korean GenerationShip. Includes some aspects of Korean culture and history.

South Korea is ''not'' North Korea. South Koreans take great pains to refer to their country as "Korea," with no geographic distinction. In their minds, using the term "South Korea" gives an air of legitimacy to the totalitarian doppelganger across the border. Nowhere else in the world is there a homogeneous group of people so starkly divided by ideology.

* Main/KoreanMythology

* Turtle Ship -- An ironclad battleship invented in 1592 with a retractable and (occasionally) ''fire-breathing head'' (powered by a cannon inside the mouth. They were something of a SuperweaponSurprise to the invading Japanese. The ship was covered in thick plating and studded with metal spikes, which made it impossible to get on the deck. The flat, keel-less bottom made the ship exceptionally agile, being able to make sudden turns (a dramatic contrast to the Japanese ships, which were faster but could only go in a straight line at top speeds) A favoured method of attack was to use the superior durability and maneuverability of the Turtle Ship to ''ram'' the more fragile Japanese ships.

* Turtle Ship -- An ironclad battleship invented in 1592 with a retractable and (occasionally) ''fire-breathing head'' (powered by a cannon inside the mouth. They were something of a SuperweaponSurprise to the invading Japanese. The ship was covered in thick plating and studded with metal spikes, which made it impossible to get on the deck. A favoured method of attack was to use the superior durability and maneuverability of the Turtle Ship to ''ram'' the more fragile Japanese ships.

* Turtle Ship -- An ironclad battleship invented in 1592 with a (occasionally) ''fire-breathing head''. They were something of a SuperweaponSurprise to the invading Japanese.

->''"[[Music/{{PSY}} Oppan Gangnam Style!]]"''
-->--'''The entire internet'''

*** {{Saerom}}

*** YesonEntertainment

[[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And of course]], [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff we have to mention the popularity of]] ''StarCraft''. [[SeriousBusiness To say it has a professional sports-esque culture built around it would be]] [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18763_5-insane-true-facts-about-starcraft-professional-sport.html absolutely accurate.]]

It's a truism that dog meat was a popular delicacy in South Korea. A quick way to get an "Oooohhh!" from the audience in a PanelShow is to joke about it. [[ValuesDissonance Animal welfare groups scream "animal cruelty". The Koreans scream "cultural imperialism" back.]] Any argument goes nowhere fast. The Western aversion to eating dogs is so ingrained that it's ripe for StealthParody, as [[http://www.joeyskaggs.com/html/dog.html Joey Skaggs]] proved in a famous prank. On the other hand, there is evidence that younger Koreans are turning against it. Nowadays dog meat is mostly eaten by the older population, as the opinion that is is animal cruelty is getting more and more popular. Note that none-dog eating Koreans will be offended if another person implies that all or most Koreans like dog meat.

->''"[[Music/{{PSY}} Oppan Gangnam Style!]]"''
-->--'''The entire internet'''

It's a truism that dog meat is a popular delicacy in South Korea. A quick way to get an "Oooohhh!" from the audience in a PanelShow is to joke about it. [[ValuesDissonance Animal welfare groups scream "animal cruelty". The Koreans scream "cultural imperialism" back.]] Any argument goes nowhere fast. The Western aversion to eating dogs is so ingrained that it's ripe for StealthParody, as [[http://www.joeyskaggs.com/html/dog.html Joey Skaggs]] proved in a famous prank. On the other hand, there is evidence that younger Koreans are turning against it.

*** Creator/DongWooAnimation, established in 1990. Has been StudioGallop's Korean subsidiary since 1994.

*** SunwooEntertainment

*** StudioMir

A lot of South Korea's appearances in foreign fiction are to do with its relationship with the North. The country is occasionally inaccurately thought to be poor and technologically backward, which, understandably, annoys the locals to no end. But Korea was a pretty poor country during the 1950s: it only became rich and technologically progressive in the last forty years. In fact, according to Martin Meredith in his book The Fate of Africa, South Korea had a lower per capita GDP than Ghana during TheSixties, but things have gotten a lot better. As described above, South Korea is one of the world's most dynamic economies. North Korea is more or less as depicted in the JamesBond film ''Film/DieAnotherDay''.

South Korea figures prominently in any ''{{Lost}}'' episode centering on Sun and Jin. These sequences are notable in that they are entirely in Korean (with subtitles) rather than employing a TranslationConvention. Sun is played by Yunjin Kim, who achieved fame in South Korea before coming to the US. Jin, however, is a FakeNationality, played by American Daniel Dae Kim.[[hottip:*: As noted in many interviews, Daniel grew up in an English-speaking household and speaks almost no Korean; Yunjin had to teach him all of his lines phonetically]]

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SOUTH-KOREA-MAP-S--KOREAN-HavenWorks-com_5086.GIF]]

*** DongWooAnimation, established in 1990. Has been StudioGallop's Korean subsidiary since 1994.

Also worth mentioning is religion, specifically the presence of Christianity. Just under 30% of all South Koreans are Christian; 1/3 of these are Catholic, while the rest are Protestants of varying description. The reasons for this include extensive proselytism in the late 19th century, the decrepit state of Korean Buddhism at that time, and the association of Christianity, particularly Protestantism, with leaders of the Korean nationalist movement.[[note]]Korean Christians had worked hard to reconcile Christian and traditional Korean values and were at the forefront of the Korean independence movement under the Japanese[[/note]] Ironically, Pyongyang was the major center of pre-1945 Korean Christianity, with the Christians fleeing south only after the Communists taking over the north. Furthermore, of the ten presidents of the ROK, four have been Protestant, one Catholic, with three Buddhists and two irreligious. As a result, South Korea is one of the most Christian countries in East Asia; it is certainly the most Protestant (the only Christian-majority countries in East Asia are the Catholic Philippines and Timor Leste). As for other religions, the traditional Buddhism (or more accurately syncretic mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism, and traditional beliefs) of Korea has about 22% of the population; most of the rest are irreligious.

The most popular sport in Korea is football (soccer). A South Korean team has qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals eight times, culminating in their first title in 2010 for their under-17 women's team. The Korea Professional Football League (K-League) is the oldest domestic professional football league in Asia. The country co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup Championship along with Japan.

*** Creator/DRMovie and MoiAnimation, two studios owned by Creator/{{Madhouse}}.

*** DRMovie and MoiAnimation, two studios owned by Creator/{{Madhouse}}.

*** {{AKOM}}

*** DRMovie and MoiAnimation, two studios owned by {{Creator/Madhouse}}.

* ''AnalogueAHateStory'' : A VisualNovel about South Korean spaceship Mugungwha. Includes some aspects of Korean culture and history.

A lot of South Korea's appearances in foreign fiction are to do with its relationship with the North. The country is occasionally inaccurately thought to be poor and technologically backward, which, understandably, annoys the locals to no end. But Korea was a pretty poor country during the 1950s: it only became rich and technologically progressive in the last forty years. In fact, according to Martin Meredith in his book The Fate of Africa, South Korea had a lower per capita GDP than Ghana during TheSixties, but things have gotten a lot better. As described above, South Korea is one of the world's most dynamic economies. North Korea is more or less as depicted in the recent JamesBond film ''Film/DieAnotherDay''.