| South Korea | |
| —n | |
| Korean name: Hanguk a republic in NE Asia: established as a republic in 1948; invaded by North Korea and Chinese Communists in 1950 but division remained unchanged at the end of the war (1953); includes over 3000 islands; rapid industrialization. Language: Korean. Religions: Buddhist, Confucianist, Shamanist, and Chondokyo. Currency: won. Capital: Seoul. Pop: 47 950 000 (2004 est). Area: 98 477 sq km (38 022 sq miles) | |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Officially the Republic of Korea; located on the peninsula separating the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, two arms of the Pacific Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Seoul.
Note: Supported by the United States, South Korea was created in 1948 after American and Soviet occupation zones established at the end of World War II had divided Korea into north and south.
Note: During the Korean War, noncommunist South Korea, aided by forces of the United Nations, and communist North Korea, aided by Chinese forces, fought from 1950 to 1953.
Note: During the 1980s, South Korea became a major industrial power in Asia.