1.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and 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, 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 worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an 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 worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, 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 growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
2.
Seoul National University
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Seoul National University is a national research university located in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Since its founding in 1946, Seoul National University has been considered to be one of the most prestigious universities in the country. It is located on three campuses, the campus is in Gwanak and two additional campuses in Daehangno and Pyeongchang. The university comprises sixteen colleges, one school, and nine professional schools. The student body consists of nearly 17,000 undergraduate and 11,000 graduate students, according to data compiled by KEDI, the university spends more on its students per capita than any other university in the country that enrolls at least 10,000 students. Following a government mandate to globalize Korean universities, the international faculty head count peaked at 242 or 4% of the total in 2010. Seoul National University originates from various institutions which were established by King Gojong of the Joseon Dynasty. Several of them were integrated into various colleges when later Seoul National University was founded, to modernize the country, Gojong initiated the establishment of modern higher education institutions. By means of the issue of an order, the law academy Beopkwan Yangseongso has been founded in 1895. It produced 209 graduates including the later envoy Yi Jun, hanseong Sabeomhakgyo, a training school for teachers and Euihakkyo, a medical school, are also considered the origins of respected colleges. After the proclamation of the Empire of Korea in 1897, Gojong, in 1899, a medical school was established. This school changed its name several times to Daehan Euiwon Gyoyukbu and Gyeongseong Euihak Jeonmunhakgyo, in 1901, a department for nursing was established, which was the forerunner of the later College of Nursing. During the Japanese rule, Keijō Imperial University was established as one of Japans nine imperial universities, after World War II and the independence of Korea, the name of the university was changed from Keijō Teikoku Daigaku to Gyeongseong Daehak. The Hanja letters, that were used in the name, were pronounced in the Korean reading, the renaming of National was based on the academic internationalism the USA claimed. Seoul National University was founded on August 27,1946 by merging ten institutions of education around the Seoul area. For over a year and a half, there was a protest movement by students, finally,320 professors were fired and more than 4950 students left the school. The universitys second president was Lee Choon-ho, who served beginning in October 1947, the College of Law was founded by merging the law department of Kyŏngsŏng University with Kyŏngsŏng Law College. The university absorbed Seoul College of Pharmacy in September 1950, as the College of Pharmacy and this had previously been a private institution
3.
Korea University
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Korea University is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905, it is one of the nations oldest and most prominent institutions of higher education and it is considered one of SKY universities, known for being one of the best universities in the country. The student body consists of over 20,000 undergraduate students, the university’s academic breadth is broad with its 81 departments in 19 colleges and divisions, and 18 graduate schools. It has over 1,500 full-time faculty members with over 95% of them holding Ph. D. or equivalent qualification in their field, the Korea University Alumni Association consists of more than 280,000 university graduates. It is particularly known for its College of Law, which is widely considered to be one of the most well-known undergraduate law programs in South Korea. There are 115 research institutes, including the Battelle@KU Laboratory, the Ilmin International Relations Institute, Korea University was established on May 5,1905, as Bosung College by Lee Yong-Ik, Treasurer of the Royal Household. The first College President was Hae-Uoung Shin, as an academic institution of nationalistic origin, it was regarded as a symbol of national pride during the colonial period. Bosung College had to many hardships before Korea University of today came into being. Shortly after Bosung College was established, the Korea-Japan Protocol was signed and his exile created financial hardship for the institution. By 1929 the foundation once again faced a financial crisis as a result of the worldwide recession. Kim Sung-Soo came to the rescue when he became the president of the College in 1932, at that time, Kim was managing Choong-Ang High School and the Dong-A Ilbo, a daily newspaper. In June 1932, Kim Sung-Soo took office as President of Bosung College and in 1934 the main building was completed on a 63, construction of the library started in 1935 in commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of Bosung College and was completed two years later. In July of the year, a large athletic field. Kim Sung-Soo, as President, made effort to develop Bosung College into the first genuine Korean university. Unfortunately, his hope did not become a reality because of Japanese colonial interference, in April 1944, the Japanese colonial government forced Bosung College to change its name and placed it under the thumb of the Japanese authorities. Following Independence in 1945, the status of Bosung College was elevated to that of a university comprising three colleges, Political Science and Law, Economics and Commerce, and Liberal Arts. Hyun Sang-Yun, the first president, initiated an expansion of the campus by purchasing forest, in June 1949, Korea University awarded its first bachelors degrees and in September of the same year, the graduate school was established. In June 1961 the present Liberal Arts building was completed, various facilities were also completed such as the museum, the agriculture laboratory, the greenhouse, and other buildings for student services
4.
Yonsei University
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Yonsei University is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of Koreas three SKY universities, considered the most prestigious in the country, Yonsei was established in 1885 and is the oldest university in South Korea. The student body consists of 38,725 students,26,731 undergraduate students,11,994 graduate students,4,518 faculty members,6,788 staff, Yonsei operates its main campus in Seoul and has extensive programs in Korean and English. The university was established in January 1957 through the union of Yonhi College and this was a result of a lasting bilateral cooperation between the colleges that began in the 1920s. The institutions were new to Korea at the time of their inception, Yonhi College was one of the first modern colleges, founded as Chosun Christian College in March 1915. Severance has its roots in the first modern medical center in Korea, Gwanghyewon, founded in April,1885. As a tribute, the name Yonsei was derived from the first syllables of the names of its two parent institutions, Yon, 연, 延 from Yonhi College and Sei, 세, 世 from Severance Union Medical College. In the symbol of Yonsei University, there is a shield, in the shield, ㅇ means sky, ㅡ means land and ㅅ means human. On the left side of ㅇ, the book is truth, on the right side, the shield defends these two ideologies. The Yonsei University Medical School dates to April 10,1885, the hospital was founded by Horace Newton Allen, the American protestant missionary appointed to Korea by the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. The hospital was renamed Jejungwon on April 26, as there appeared difficulties, the Church appointed Canadian Oliver R. Avison to run Jejungwon on July 16,1893. Gwanghyewon was financed at first by the Korean government, while the staff was provided by the church. In 1899, Avison returned to the U. S. louis Severance, a businessman and philanthropist from Cleveland, Ohio, was present and deeply moved. He later paid for the portion of the construction cost of new buildings for the medical facility. Jejungwon was renamed Severance Hospital after his name, Jejungwon was primarily a hospital, but it also performed medical education as an attachment. The hospital admitted its first class of 16 medical students selected through examinations in 1886, by 1899, Jejungwon Medical School was independently recognized. Following the increase of diversity in missionary denominations in Korea, collaboration began to form, Jejungwon began to receive medical staff, school faculty and financial support from the Union Council of Korean Missionaries in 1912. Accordingly, the school was renamed as Severance Union Medical College in 1913
5.
Gwanak District
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Gwanak District is an administrative subdivision of Seoul, South Korea. It lies on the skirt of Seoul, bordering Anyang of Gyeonggi Province. The southern border of Gwanak-gu, bordering Anyang, consists of the ridgeline of Gwanaksan. Originally a part of Siheung, Gyeonggi, it was transferred to Seoul with the expansion of the National Capital Area. Gwanak District is densely populated with over 500,000 people, large slum quarters were formed by migrant populations from all over Korea who sought jobs in industrialized Seoul. The area is heavily populated by university students from surrounding provinces. Central commercial zones include the Seorim and Daehak area and the Cheongnyong area near Seoul National University, restaurants, supermarkets, bars and pubs in the area are centered in Nokdu Street in the Daehak area and near Seoul National University Station. Other commercial zones for residents are located along the Nambu Beltway, the main shopping district, the Bongcheon Central Market, is positioned in Jungang Neighbourhood, north from Seoul National University Station. Nambu Beltway, which circles Seoul, passes through the center of the district. The beltway and two avenues, Gwanak Road and Sillim Road, make the main route of the automobile traffic. Nambu Beltway is connected to multiple express ways, green Line and Blue Line of Seoul Metro links Gwanak District and other areas. Many trunk buses such as 501,506,651 and 750 lines, Seoul Metro Seoul Subway Line 2 ← Nakseongdae — Bongcheon — Sillim → Seoul Subway Line 4 ← Sadang → There are three statutory subdivisions, Sillim, Bongcheon and Namhyeon Neighbourhood. Those are further divided into multiple administrative neighbourhoods to balance excessive populations, as of September,2008, there are 21 administrative neighbourhoods in Gwanak District
6.
Seoul
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The Seoul Capital Area houses up to half of the countrys population of 50.22 million people with 678,102 international residents. Situated on the Han River, Seouls history stretches back more than two years when it was founded in 18 BCE by Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. It continued as the capital of Korea under the Joseon Dynasty, the Seoul Capital Area contains five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Changdeok Palace, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine, Namhansanseong and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. Seoul is surrounded by mountains, the tallest being Mt. Bukhan, in 2015, it was rated Asias most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally by Arcadis. In 2014, the citys GDP per capita of $39,786 was comparable to that of France and Finland. Ranked sixth in the Global Power City Index and Global Financial Centres Index, Seoul is the worlds most wired city and ranked first in technology readiness by PwCs Cities of Opportunity report. It is served by the KTX high-speed rail and the Seoul Subway, providing 4G LTE, WiFi, Seoul is connected via AREX to Incheon International Airport, rated the worlds best airport nine years in a row by Airports Council International. Lotte World Tower, a 556-metre supertall skyscraper with 123 floors, has built in Seoul and become the OECDs tallest in 2016. Its Lotte Cinema houses the worlds largest cinema screen, Seouls COEX Mall is the worlds largest underground shopping mall. Seoul hosted the 1986 Asian Games,1988 Summer Olympics,2002 FIFA World Cup, the Miss Universe 1980 pageant, a UNESCO City of Design, Seoul was named the 2010 World Design Capital. The city has known in the past by the names Wirye-seong, Hanju. During Japans annexation in Korea, Hanseong was renamed to Keijō by the Imperial authorities to prevent confusion with the hanja 漢, in reality, the ancient name of Seoul, Hanseong, originally had the meaning of big or vast. Its current name originated from the Korean word meaning city, which is believed to be derived from the word Seorabeol, which originally referred to Gyeongju. Unlike most place names in Korea, Seoul has no corresponding hanja, on January 18,2005, Seoul government officially changed its official Chinese language name to Shouer from the historic Hancheng, of which use is becoming less common. Settlement of the Han River area, where present-day Seoul is located, Seoul is first recorded as Wiryeseong, the capital of Baekje in the northeastern Seoul area. There are several city walls remaining in the area date from this time. Pungnaptoseong, a wall just outside Seoul, is widely believed to have been at the main Wiryeseong site. As the Three Kingdoms competed for this region, control passed from Baekje to Goguryeo in the 5th century
7.
Crane (bird)
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Cranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the group Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera, unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Cranes live on all continents except Antarctica and South America and they are opportunistic feeders that change their diet according to the season and their own nutrient requirements. They eat a range of items from suitably sized small rodents, fish, amphibians, and insects to grain, berries, Cranes construct platform nests in shallow water, and typically lay two eggs at a time. Both parents help to rear the young, which remain with them until the breeding season. Some species and populations of cranes migrate over long distances, others do not migrate at all, Cranes are solitary during the breeding season, occurring in pairs, but during the non-breeding season they are gregarious, forming large flocks where their numbers are sufficient. Most species of cranes have been affected by human activities and are at the least classified as threatened, the plight of the whooping cranes of North America inspired some of the first US legislation to protect endangered species. The cranes are large to large birds, including the worlds tallest flying bird. They are long-legged and long-necked birds with streamlined bodies and large rounded wings, the males and females do not vary in external appearance, but on average males tend to be slightly larger than females. The plumage of the cranes varies by habitat, species inhabiting vast open wetlands tend to have more white in the plumage than do species that inhabit smaller wetlands or forested habitats, which tend to be more grey. These white species are generally larger. Most species of crane have some areas of skin on the face. This skin is used in communication with other cranes, and can be expanded by contracting and relaxing muscles, feathers on the head can be moved and erected in the blue, wattled and demoiselle cranes for signalling as well. Also important to communication is the position and length of the trachea, in the two crowned-cranes the trachea is shorter and only slightly impressed upon the bone of the sternum, whereas the trachea of the other species is longer and penetrates the sternum. In some species the entire sternum is fused to the plates of the trachea. The cranes have a distribution, occurring across most of the world continents. They are absent from Antarctica and, mysteriously, South America, east Asia is the centre of crane diversity, with eight species, followed by Africa, which holds five resident species and wintering populations of a sixth. Australia, Europe and North America have two species, the remaining genus, Grus, contains the most species and is the most widespread genus, although only a single species occurs in Africa as a wintering migrant
