KOREA, SOUTH, FLAG OF

national flag consisting of a white field bearing a central red-blue disk and four groups of black bars. The flag has a width-to-length ratio of 2 to 3. The need for a national flag arose in Korea in the late 19th century when, under pressure from its powerful neighbours, China and Japan, Korea gradually began to open its borders to outside influences. Traditional symbols were incorporated in the design of the new flag, adopted in August 1882, which has continued as the basic pattern ever since. The white background is for peace and recalls the traditional name for Korea, Choson (Land of the Morning Freshness or Land of the Morning Calm), as well as the white clothing traditionally worn by Koreans. The central emblem is the t'aeguk,which represents the origin and the duality of the universe. Such characteristics as old and new, light and dark, male and female, and good and evil are reflected in the two intertwined comma-shapes. This symbol is derived from the yin-yang of ancient philosophy; in Korean it is known as um-yang.Surrounding the t'aegukare four sets of black bars, each composed of three strokes in varying combinations of broken and unbroken bars. These recall sun, moon, earth, and heaven; the four cardinal directions; the four seasons; and other concepts derived from Confucian principles. The Korean flag, outlawed under 36 years of Japanese rule, was revived by U.S. occupation authorities under General MacArthurin 1948. On January 25, 1950, the black bars were shifted to their present positions. The distances between the two parts of the broken bars were specified on February 21, 1984, and colour specifications were first issued in October 1997. Whitney Smith History Following is a treatment of South Korea since the Korean War. For a discussion of the earlier history of the peninsula, see Korea, history of. The political experience of the people of the Republic of Korea since 1948 has been varied. They lived under 12 years of Syngman Rhee's authoritarian rule, checked by the rise of a vocal opposition under semicompetitive conditions; nine months of liberalism under the cabinet system of Prime Minister Chang Myon that followed the student upheavals of April 1960; the 27-year rule by two military strongmen under a tight and effective presidential system that ensued after the military coup of May 1961; and a liberal democracy from 1987. South Korea to 1961 The First Republic The First Republic, established in August 1948, adopted a presidential system and elected Syngman Rhee as the first president. He was reelected in August 1952 while the nation was at war. Even before the outbreak of the Korean War, there had been a serious conflict between Rhee and the opposition-dominated National Assembly that elected him in 1948. The dispute involved a constitutional amendment bill that the opposition introduced in an attempt to oust Rhee by replacing the presidential system with a parliamentary cabinet system. The bill was defeated, but the dispute continued at Pusan, the wartime provisional capital, where the National Assembly was reconvened. When the opposition introduced another amendment bill in favour of a parliamentary cabinet system, Rhee in 1952 countered by pushing through a bill that provided for the popular election of the president. Later, in 1954, Rhee succeeded in forcing the National Assembly, then dominated by the ruling party, to pass an amendment that exempted him from what was then a two-term limit on the presidency. Under the revised constitution, Rhee ran successfully for his third term of office in May 1956. Rhee's election for the fourth time, in March 1960, was preceded by a period of tension and violence. Amid massive student demonstrations, which culminated in the April 19 student uprising and which resulted in many casualties, Rhee resigned under pressure and fled to exile in Hawaii; he died there in 1965 at the age of 90. The economy The South Korean economy has grown remarkably since the early 1960s. In that time, South Korea transformed itself from a poor, agrarian society to one of the world's most highly industrialized nations. This growth was driven primarily by the development of export-oriented industries, fostered by strong government support. Government and business leaders together fashioned a strategy of targeting specific industries for development, and beginning in 1962 this strategy was implemented in a series of economic development plans. The first targeted industries were textiles and light manufacturing, followed in the 1970s by such heavy industries as iron and steel and chemicals. Still later, the focus shifted to such enterprises as automobiles and electronics. The government exercised strong controls on industrial development, giving most support to the large-scale projects of the emerging giant corporate conglomerates called chaebol. As a result, small and medium-size industries that were privately managed became increasingly difficult to finance, and many of these became, in essence, dependent subcontractors of the chaebol. In addition, preferential reinvestment in export industries discouraged the production of consumer goods and held down consumer spending. By 1980, however, these policies began to be reversed, especially credit policies, as the government gradually removed itself from direct involvement in industry. Labour unions were able to win significant increases in wages during the 1980s, which improved the lot of workers and produced a corresponding growth in domestic consumption. Higher labour costs, however, contributed to a decline in international competitiveness in such labour-intensive activities as textile manufacture. Mining and power Mineral resources in South Korea are meagre. The most important reserves are of anthracite coal, iron ore, graphite, gold, silver, tungsten, lead, and zinc, which together constitute some two-thirds of the total value of mineral resources. Deposits of graphite and tungsten are among the largest in the world. Most mining activity centres around the extraction of coal and iron ore. All of the country's crude petroleum requirements and most of its metallic mineral needs (including iron ore) are met by imports. Thermal electric power accounts for more than half of the power generated. Since the first oil refinery started to produce petroleum products in 1964, power stations have changed over gradually from coal to oil. Hydroelectricity constitutes only a small proportion of overall electric-power production; most stations are located along the Han River, not far from Seoul. Nuclear power generation, however, has become increasingly important. The land Relief Geologically, South Korea consists in large part of Precambrian rocks (i.e., more than 540 million years old) such as granite and gneiss. The country is largely mountainous, with small valleys and narrow coastal plains. The T'aebaek Mountains run in roughly a north-south direction along the eastern coastline and northward into North Korea, forming the country's drainage divide. From them several mountain ranges branch off with a northeast-southwest orientation. The most important of these are the Sobaek Mountains, which undulate in a long S-shape across the peninsula. None of South Korea's mountains are very high: the T'aebaek Mountains reach an elevation of 5,604 feet (1,708 metres) at Mount Sorak, and the Sobaek Mountains reach 6,283 feet at Mount Chiri. The highest peak in South Korea, the extinct volcano Mount Halla on Cheju Island, is 6,398 feet (1,950 metres) above sea level. South Korea has two volcanic islandsCheju, off the peninsula's southern tip, and Ullung, about 85 miles east of the mainland in the Sea of Japanand a small-scale lava plateau in Kangwon province. There are fairly extensive lowlands along the lower parts of the country's main rivers. The eastern coastline is relatively straight, whereas the western and southern have extremely complicated ria (i.e., creek-indented) coastlines with many islands. The shallow Yellow Sea and the complex Korean coastline produce one of the highest tidal ranges in the worldabout 30 feet maximum at Inch'on, the entry port for Seoul. Drainage and soils South Korea's three principal rivers, the Han, Kum, and Naktong, all have their sources in the T'aebaek Mountains, and they flow between the ranges before entering their lowland plains. Nearly all the country's rivers flow westward or southward into either the Yellow Sea or the East China Sea; only a few short, swift rivers drain eastward from the T'aebaek Mountains. The Naktong River, South Korea's longest, runs southward for 325 miles to the Korea Strait. Stream flow is highly variable, being greatest during the wet summer months and considerably less in the relatively dry winter. Most of South Korea's soils derive from granite and gneiss. Sandy and brown-coloured soils are common, and they are generally well leached and have little humus content. Podzolic soils (ash-gray forest soils), resulting from the cold of the long winter season, are found in the highlands. The people Ethnic and linguistic composition The Korean people originally may have had links with the people of Central Asia, the Lake Baikal region, Mongolia, and the coastal areas of the Yellow Sea. Tools of Paleolithic type and other artifacts found in Sokch'ang, near Kongju, are quite similar to those of the Lake Baikal and Mongolian areas. The population of South Korea is highly homogeneous, although the number of foreigners is growing, especially in the major urban areas. In addition to American soldiers, urban Chinese, and foreign nationals in business or the diplomatic corps, tens of thousands of workers have come to South Korea from China and Southeast Asia. All Koreans speak the Korean language, which is often classified as one of the Altaic languages, has affinities to Japanese, and contains many Chinese loanwords. The Korean script, known in South Korea as Hangul (Han'gul) and in North Korea as Choson muntcha, is composed of phonetic symbols for the 10 vowels and 14 consonants. Korean often is written as a combination of Chinese ideograms and Hangul in South Korea, although the trend there is toward using less Chinese. A number of English words and phrases have crept into the language as a result of the American presence in the country since 1950. Religion Freedom of religion is constitutionally guaranteed in South Korea, and there is no national religion. There also is little uniformity of religious belief, a situation that often is confusing to outside observers. Thus, an individual may adhere to Buddhism while also following Confucian or Taoist tenets. Buddhism, which was first introduced in the 4th century AD and was the official religion of the Koryo dynasty (9181392), has the largest following. Christianity is relatively new in Korea, Roman Catholic missionaries having reached the peninsula only in the late 18th century, and their Protestant counterparts a century later. Christians now are the second largest religious group, with Protestants far outnumbering Catholics. Christianity has had a profound effect on the modernization of Korean society. Confucianism was the basis of national ethics during the Choson (Yi) dynasty (13921910); though the number of its official adherents is now small, most Korean families still follow its principles, including ancestor worship. Among the so-called new religions are Wonbulgyo (Won Buddhism), Taejongyo, and Ch'ondogyo. Ch'ondogyo (Teaching of the Heavenly Way), originally known as Tonghak (Eastern Learning), is a blend of Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, and even Taoism; it spread widely in the latter part of the 19th century. Shamanismthe religious belief in gods, demons, and ancestral spirits responsive to a priest, or shamanand traditional geomancy (p'ungsu) persist, though their practices usually are limited to certain occasions, such as funerals.