North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. The country is bordered to the north by China and by Russia along the Amnok and Tumen rivers, and to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two. North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. Pyongyang is the country's capital and largest city.
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, and sharing a land border with North Korea. 25 million people, around half of the country's population of more than 51 million people, live in the Seoul Capital Area, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the world.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national association football teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea and Japan, with its final match hosted by Japan at International Stadium in Yokohama.
K-pop is a genre of popular music originating in South Korea. It is influenced by styles and genres from around the world, such as experimental, rock, jazz, gospel, hip hop, R&B, reggae, electronic dance, folk, country, and classical on top of its traditional Korean music roots. The more modern form of the genre emerged with the formation of one of the earliest K-pop groups, Seo Taiji and Boys, in 1992. Their experimentation with different styles and genres of music and integration of foreign musical elements helped reshape and modernize South Korea's contemporary music scene.
Korean dramas, more popularly known as K-dramas, are television series in the Korean language, made in South Korea. Korean dramas are popular worldwide, partially due to the spread of Korean popular culture, and their widespread availability via streaming services which often offer subtitles in multiple languages. Many K-dramas have been adapted throughout the world, and some have had great impact on other countries. Some of the most famous dramas have been broadcast via traditional television channels in other countries. For example, Dae Jang Geum (2003) was sold to 91 countries. K-dramas have attracted attention for their fashion, style and culture all over the world. The rise in popularity of Korean dramas had led to a great boost to fashion line.
Park Shin-hye is a South Korean actress, singer and model. She gained recognition for starring in melodramas Stairway to Heaven (2003) and Tree of Heaven (2006). Considered one of the most prolific actresses of her age, Park received further recognition for her roles in the television dramas You're Beautiful (2009), The Heirs (2013), Pinocchio (2014–2015), Doctors (2016), and Memories of the Alhambra (2018–2019).
Kim Jong-un or Kim Jong Un is a North Korean politician serving as Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea since 2012. He is the second child of Kim Jong-il (1941–2011), who was North Korea's second Supreme Leader from 1994 to 2011, and Ko Yong-hui (1952–2004). He is the grandson of Kim Il-sung, who was the founder and first supreme leader of North Korea from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994.
Girls' Generation, also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece group, Jessica departed from the group in September 2014. One of the prominent figures of the Korean Wave, the group has earned numerous accolades and the honorific nickname "The Nation's Girl Group" in their home country.
Seoul, officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. Seoul has a population of 9.7 million people, and forms the heart of the Seoul Capital Area with the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province. Considered to be a global city, Seoul was the world's 4th largest metropolitan economy in 2014 after Tokyo, New York City and Los Angeles. In 2017, the cost of living in Seoul was ranked 6th globally.
Lee Min-ho is a South Korean actor, singer, and model. He gained widespread fame in Korea and parts of Asia with his role as Gu Jun-pyo in Boys Over Flowers (2009) which also earned him the Best New Actor award at the 45th Baeksang Arts Awards. His notable lead roles in television series include Personal Taste (2010), City Hunter (2011), The Heirs (2013), Legend of the Blue Sea (2016) and The King: Eternal Monarch (2020). Apart from his television career, Lee featured in the first lead role in the film Gangnam Blues (2015), followed by his first China-produced film Bounty Hunters (2016), grossed US$31 million and the mini-romance-web-series Line Romance (2014), grossed US$20 million.
Lee Ji-eun, known professionally as IU (Korean: 아이유), is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actress. She signed with Kakao M in 2007 as a trainee and debuted as a singer at the age of fifteen with her album Lost and Found. Although her follow-up albums, Growing Up and IU...IM, brought mainstream success, it was after the release of "Good Day", the lead single from her 2010 album Real, that she achieved national stardom. "Good Day" went on to spend five consecutive weeks at the top position of South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart, and in 2019 it was ranked number one on Billboard magazine's 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s.
YG Entertainment Inc. is a South Korean entertainment company established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and music publishing house. In addition, the company operates a number of subsidiary ventures under a separate public traded company, YG PLUS, which includes a clothing line, a golf management agency, and a cosmetics brand.
Running Man is a South Korean variety show, forming part of SBS' Good Sunday lineup. It was first aired on July 11, 2010.
Kim Soo-hyun is a South Korean actor best known for his roles in the television dramas Dream High (2011), Moon Embracing the Sun (2012), My Love from the Star (2013), The Producers (2015), It's Okay to Not Be Okay (2020), as well as the films The Thieves (2012), Secretly, Greatly (2013) and Real (2017).
Exo is a South Korean–Chinese boy band based in Seoul, consisting of nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai and Sehun. The band was formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. Their music—released and performed in Korean, Mandarin, and Japanese—primarily incorporates pop, hip-hop, and R&B, including elements of electronic dance music genres such as house and trap. The band ranked as one of the top five most influential celebrities on the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list from 2014 to 2018 and have been labeled "Kings of K-pop" and the "Biggest boyband in the world" by various media outlets.
BTS, also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a seven-member South Korean boy band that began formation in 2010 and debuted in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—composed of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produces much of their own output. Originally a hip hop group, their musical style has evolved to include a wide range of genres. Their lyrics, often focused on personal and social commentary, touch on the themes of mental health, troubles of school-age youth, loss, the journey towards loving oneself, and individualism. Their work features references to literature and psychological concepts and includes an alternative universe storyline. The group has released several albums and performed on several world tours.
Got7 is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of seven members: JB, Mark, Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae, BamBam, and Yugyeom. Got7 debuted in January 2014 with the release of their first EP Got It?, which peaked at number two on the Gaon Album Chart and number one on Billboard's World Albums Chart. The group gained attention also for their live performances, which often includes elements of martial arts tricking and street dancing.
The sinking of MVSewol, also called the Sewol ferry disaster, occurred on the morning of 16 April 2014, when the ferry was en route from Incheon towards Jeju in South Korea. The 6,825-ton vessel sent a distress signal from about 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) north of Byeongpungdo at 08:58 KST. Out of 476 passengers and crew, 304 died in the disaster, including around 250 students from Danwon High School. Of the approximately 172 survivors, more than half were rescued by fishing boats and other commercial vessels that arrived at the scene approximately 40 minutes before the Korea Coast Guard.
Red Velvet is a South Korean girl group formed and managed by SM Entertainment. They debuted on August 1, 2014 with the digital single "Happiness" with the four-member line-up of Irene, Seulgi, Wendy and Joy. Yeri joined the group in March 2015, following their first major release, Ice Cream Cake. Musically, Red Velvet employs a unique dual sonic concept that reflects their own group name: their predominantly-pop "red" side experiments occasionally with electronic, funk and hip hop, while their "velvet" side focuses on '90s-influenced R&B with elements of ballad and jazz.
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the Samsung brand, and is the largest South Korean chaebol.
