South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. Highly urbanized at 92%, South Koreans lead a distinctive urban lifestyle, as half of them live in high-rises concentrated in the Seoul Capital Area with 25 million residents and the world's sixth leading global city with the fourth largest economy and seventh most sustainable city in the world.
The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC. The name Korea is derived from one of them, Goguryeo, also known as Koryo, which was a powerful empire and one of the great powers in East Asia, ruling most of the Korean Peninsula, Northeast China, and parts of Russia and Inner Mongolia under Gwanggaeto the Great. Since their unification into Later Silla and Balhae in the 7th century, Korea enjoyed over a millennium of relative tranquility under long lasting dynasties. Under Sejong the Great in the 15th century, Koreans had the highest living standard in East Asia and invented many advanced innovations like Hangul, enabling anyone to easily learn to read and write. Its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, but a North Korean invasion led to the Korean War (1950–1953). Peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the world's 10th largest defence budget.
South Korea's tiger economy soared at an annual average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful. Today, it is the world's seventh largest advanced economy and fifth largest exporter with the G20's largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the world economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US and the EU simultaneously. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency and many fundamental rights such as universal healthcare. High personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon green growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC and Paris Club contributor. It is the world's third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance and inclusion of minorities on the Fragile States Index.
South Korea is a technologically advanced developed country driven by a highly educated and skilled workforce, having the world's eighth highest median household income, the highest in Asia. Globally, it ranks highly in personal safety, job security, ease of doing business and healthcare quality, with the world's third highest health adjusted life expectancy and fourth most efficient healthcare system. It is the world's largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science and engineering and ranking third in the Youth Wellbeing Index. Home of Samsung, LG and Hyundai-Kia, South Korea was named the world's most innovative country for 4 consecutive years since 2014 in the Bloomberg Innovation Index, ranking first in business R&D intensity, manufacturing value-added, patents filed per GDP, second in higher education efficiency and fourth in high-tech density and researcher concentration. In 2005, it became the world's first country to fully transition to high-speed Internet and today it has the world's fastest Internet speed and highest smartphone ownership, ranking first in ICT Development, e-Government and 4G LTE coverage.
