South Korea Guide
Introduction to South Korea
A pine-clad land of mountains, misty archipelagos and rice paddies of emerald green, Korea is something of a mystery to many travellers, but that it exists at all is little short of miraculous. Surrounded by three of the greatest powers in history – China, Russia and Japan – it spent much of its past as an East Asian punchbag, yet has somehow not only survived, but has done so with its culture and customs largely intact.
Since the South and North went their separate ways in 1953 after the Korean War, South Korea gradually embraced democracy and has since gone on to become a powerful and dynamic economy, its cities a pulsating feast of eye-searing neon, incessant activity and round-the-clock business. Here you can shop ‘til you drop at markets that never close, feast on eye-wateringly spicy food, get giddy on a bottle or two of soju, then sweat out the day's exertions at a night-time sauna. However, set foot outside the main cities and your mere presence will cause quite a stir – in the remote rural areas life continues much as it did before the "Economic Miracle" of the 1980s, and pockets of islands exist where no foreigner has ever set foot.
For all its newfound prosperity, though, the South remains a land steeped in tradition. An unbroken line of more than one hundred kings stretches back almost two thousand years before being abruptly choked off by the Japanese occupation in 1910 – their grassy burial mounds have yielded thousands of golden relics – and even the capital, Seoul, has a number of palaces dating back to the fourteenth century. Some mountains still host shamanist rituals, and Confucian-style formal ceremonies continue to play an important part in local life.
The Korean people themselves are a real highlight: within hours of arriving, you'll probably find yourself racing up a mountainside – new friends in tow – lunching over a delicious barbequed galbi, throwing back dongdongju until dawn, or singing the night away at a noraebang.