1.
General Santos
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General Santos, officially the City of General Santos, is the southernmost city in the Philippines. Classified as a highly urbanized first class city, General Santos is the 15th most populous city in the country with 594,446 inhabitants as per 2015 census. General Santos City is the center for commerce and industry of the Soccsksargen region. The nomadic Blaan people are the inhabitants of General Santos, and traces of their early settlement of the area are found in the citys place names. The Blaan tribe presently lives alongside the new generation of settlers. The 62 pioneers, mostly agricultural and trade graduates, were the first large batch of settlers to land in the area with the mission to cultivate the region. In March 1939, the first formal settlement in the city was established in Alagao, Lagao district was known then as the Municipal District of Buayan under the jurisdiction of the deputy governor of the Municipal District of Glan. During the Second World War, the Municipal District of Buayan become one of the last frontiers between the combined American and Filipino forces and troops from the Empire of Japan. Retreating Imperial Japanese forces made Klaja Karsts Land their last ground for defence, constructing round cement bunkers and these bunkers can still be seen at Sitio Guadalupe, most of the tunnels, however, have since been damaged and even destroyed by treasure hunters and land developers. Dadiangas was the seat of government for the Municipality of Buayan electing Irineo Santiago as its first Municipal Mayor on an election that was held on November 11,1947. Mayor Santiago was formally inducted on January 1,1948, six years later, in June 1954, the Municipality of Buayan was renamed General Santos as a tribute to the leading pioneer via Act No.1107 authored by Congressman Luminog Mangelen of Cotabato Province. On July 8,1968, the Municipality of General Santos was converted into a city upon the approval of Republic Act No,5412, authored by Congressman James L. Chiongbian. It was inaugurated on September 5 of that year, with Antonio C, acharon became the new citys first mayor. In 1988, it was declared a highly urbanized city of South Cotabato, General Santos City lies at the southern part of the Philippines. It is located at 6°7N 125°10E latitude, the city is southeast of Manila, southeast of Cebu and southwest of Davao. The city is bounded by municipalities of Sarangani Province namely Alabel in the east, General Santos is likewise bounded by the South Cotabato municipality of Polomolok and Sarangani Province municipality of Malungon in the north, and the municipality of Tboli in the west. General Santos City has a wet and dry climate. It is considered to be one of the driest places in the Philippines, General Santos City is politically subdivided into 26 barangays
General Santos
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Aerial view of urban GenSan
General Santos
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Fish Port of General Santos City
General Santos
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General Santos City Fishing Port Complex
General Santos
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Aerial view of port of general santos
2.
List of cities in North Korea
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The important cities of North Korea have self-governing status equivalent to that of provinces. Pyongyang, the largest city and capital, is classified as a chikhalsi, other cities are classified as si and are under provincial jurisdiction, at the same level as counties. Notes All population figures come from the 2008 North Korean census, several former special cities have been re-merged with their provinces, including Chongjin, Hamhung and Kaesong. Rason was annexed into North Hamgyong Province in 2004, but was promoted back to special city in 2010 to help manage it for foreign investment. Chosŏngŭl has replaced Hancha, Hancha has not been used in North Korea since the 1950s. Administrative divisions of North Korea Special cities of North Korea List of cities in South Korea Geography of North Korea Dormels, North Koreas Cities, Industrial facilities, internal structures and typification. ISBN 978-89-6297-167-5 North Korean cities at Korean Studies, University of Vienna
List of cities in North Korea
List of cities in North Korea
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Hamhung
List of cities in North Korea
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Chongjin
3.
Hancha
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Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. Borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation, hanja-mal or hanja-eo refers to words that can be written with hanja, and hanmun refers to Classical Chinese writing, although hanja is sometimes used loosely to encompass these other concepts. Because hanja never underwent major reform, they are almost entirely identical to traditional Chinese, only a small number of hanja characters are modified or unique to Korean. By contrast, many of the Chinese characters currently in use in Japan and Mainland China have been simplified, and contain fewer strokes than the corresponding hanja characters. Today, a working knowledge of Chinese characters is still important for anyone who wishes to study older texts. Learning a certain number of hanja is very helpful for understanding the etymology of Sino-Korean words, hanja are not used to write native Korean words, which are always rendered in hangul, and even words of Chinese origin—hanja-eo —are written with the hangul alphabet most of the time. A major motivation for the introduction of Chinese characters into Korea was the spread of Buddhism, the major Chinese text that introduced hanja to Koreans, however, was not a religious text but the Chinese text, Cheonjamun. One way of adapting hanja to write Korean in such systems was to represent native Korean grammatical particles, for example, Gugyeol uses the characters 爲尼 to transcribe the Korean word hăni, in modern Korean, that means does, and so. However, in Chinese, the characters are read as the expression wéi ní. This is an example of Gugyeol words where the radical is read in Korean for its meaning. Hanja was the means of writing Korean until King Sejong the Great promoted the invention of hangul in the 15th century. However, even after the invention of hangul, most Korean scholars continued to write in hanmun and it was not until the 20th century that hangul truly replaced hanja. Officially, hanja has not been used in North Korea since June 1949, additionally, many words borrowed from Chinese have been replaced in the North with native Korean words. However, there are a number of Chinese-borrowed words in widespread usage in the North. The replacement has been less total in South Korea where, although usage has declined over time, some remains in common usage in some contexts. Each hanja is composed of one of 214 radicals plus in most cases one or more additional elements, the vast majority of hanja use the additional elements to indicate the sound of the character, but a few hanja are purely pictographic, and some were formed in other ways. This dual meaning-sound reading of a character is called eumhun, the word or words used to denote the meaning are often—though hardly always—words of native Korean origin, and are sometimes archaic words no longer commonly used. South Korean primary schools abandoned the teaching of hanja in 1971 and it is taught in separate courses in South Korean high schools, separately from the normal Korean-language curriculum
Hancha
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Chinese characters
Hancha
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Hanja
Hancha
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Korean writing systems
Hancha
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Calligraphy
4.
McCune-Reischauer
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McCune–Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems. A modified version of McCune–Reischauer was the official system in South Korea until 2000. A variant of McCune–Reischauer is still used as the system in North Korea. The system was created in 1937 by George M. McCune, with a few exceptions, it attempts not to transliterate Korean hangul but to represent the phonetic pronunciation. McCune–Reischauer is widely used outside Korea, Korean has phonologically no distinction between voiced and voiceless consonants, but it phonetically distinguishes them. Aspirated consonants like p, k, and t are distinguished by apostrophe from unaspirated ones, the apostrophe is also used to mark transcriptions of ㄴㄱ as opposed to ㅇㅇ, 잔금 → changŭm vs. 장음 → changŭm). That can lead to confusion over whether the o being romanized is 오 or 어 or the u being Romanized is 우 or 으, casual users also often omit the apostrophe that differentiates aspirated consonants from their unaspirated counterparts, which can also lead to confusion. Such common omissions were the reason the South Korean government adopted a revised system of romanization in 2000. Critics of the system claim it fails to represent 어 and 으 in a way that is easily recognizable. Also, it misrepresents the unaspirated consonants the way that they are actually pronounced, also, North Korea uses a version of McCune–Reischauer. Even within South Korea, usage of the new system is less than universal and this is a simplified guide for the McCune–Reischauer system. It is often used for the transliteration of names but does not convert every word properly, ㅔ is written as ë after ㅏ and ㅗ. This is to distinguish ㅐ from ㅏ에, and ㅚ and ㅗ에, the combinations ㅏ에 and ㅗ에 very rarely occur except in sentences when a noun is followed by a postposition, as, for example, 회사에서 hoesaësŏ and 차고에 chagoë. In Sino-Korean words, lt and lch respectively, for ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, and ㅈ, the letters g, b, d, or j are used if voiced, k, p, t, or ch otherwise. Pronunciations such as those take precedence over the rules in the table above, voiceless/voiced consonants 가구 kagu 등대 tŭngdae 반복 panbok 주장 chujang Of course, the initial consonant ㅇ is disregarded in romanization, since it is only used in order to indicate the absence of sound. For example, 평안 is written as Phyŏngan, the original system would have it written as Pyŏngan. A variant of McCune–Reischauer was in use in South Korea from 1984 to 2000. The following are the differences between the original McCune–Reischauer and the South Korean variant, 시 was written as shi instead of the original systems si, when ㅅ is followed by ㅣ, it is realized as the sound instead of the normal sound
McCune-Reischauer
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Korean writing systems
5.
Revised Romanization of Korean
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The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea proclaimed by Ministry of Culture and Tourism to replace the older McCune–Reischauer system. The new system eliminates diacritics in favor of digraphs and adheres closely to Korean phonology than to a suggestive rendition of Korean phonetics for non-native speakers. The Revised Romanization limits itself to the ISO basic Latin alphabet, apart from limited and it was developed by the National Academy of the Korean Language from 1995 and was released to the public on 7 July 2000 by South Koreas Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Proclamation No. 2000-8, which cites these reasons for the new system, It promotes consistent romanization by native Korean speakers by the transcription of important language characteristics. It reduces the confusion caused by the frequent omission of apostrophes and it rationalizes the Korean language with the plain ASCII text of internet domain names. Basic principles of romanization are, Romanization is based on standard Korean pronunciation, symbols other than Roman letters are avoided to the greatest extent possible. These are notable features of the Revised Romanization system, Vowels ㅓ/ʌ/ and ㅡ/ɯ/ are written as digraphs, however, ㅝ/wʌ/ is written as wo, and ㅢ/ɰi/ is written as ui. Unlike McCune–Reischauer, aspirated consonants have no apostrophe, k, t, p and their unaspirated counterparts are written with letters that are voiced in English, g, d, b, j. ㅅ/s/ is written as s regardless of the vowels and semivowels, there is no sh, 사 → sa. When followed by another consonant or when in position, it is written as t, 옷 → ot. ㄹ/l/ is r before a vowel or a semivowel and l everywhere else, 리을 → rieul, 철원 → Cheorwon, 울릉도 → Ulleungdo, other rules and recommendations include the following, A hyphen optionally disambiguates syllables, 가을 → ga-eul versus 개울 → gae-ul. However, few official publications make use of this provision since actual instances of ambiguity among names are rare, however, names for geographic features and artificial structures are not hyphenated, 설악산 → Seoraksan, 해인사 → Haeinsa Proper nouns are capitalized. Given names and commercial names are encouraged to change, but it is not required, all Korean textbooks were required to comply with the new system by February 28,2002. English-language newspapers in South Korea initially resisted the new system by citing its flaws, the Korea Times was the last major English-language newspaper to do so and switched only in May 2006. North Korea continues to use a version of the McCune–Reischauer system of Romanization, textbooks and dictionaries intended for students of the Korean language tend to include this Romanization. However, some publishers have acknowledged the difficulties or confusion it can cause for non-native Korean speakers who are unused to the conventions of style of Romanization. ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, and ㄹ are usually transcribed as g, d, b, and r when appearing before a vowel, and as k, t, p, and l when followed by another consonant or when appearing at the end of a word. The revised romanization transcribes certain phonetic changes that occur with combinations of the consonant of a character
Revised Romanization of Korean
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Korean writing systems
6.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
7.
North Korea
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North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia, constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is both the capital as well as its largest city. To the north and northwest the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok, the country is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone separating the two. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948 two separate governments were formed, the communist Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the north, an invasion initiated by North Korea led to the Korean War. The Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire, and no peace treaty was ever signed. North Korea officially describes itself as a self-reliant socialist state and formally holds elections, critics regard it as a totalitarian dictatorship. Various outlets have called it Stalinist, particularly noting the elaborate cult of personality around Kim Il-sung, International organizations have assessed human rights violations in North Korea as belonging to a category of their own, with no parallel in the contemporary world. Over time, North Korea has gradually distanced itself from the world communist movement, Juche, an ideology of national self-reliance, was introduced into the constitution as a creative application of Marxism–Leninism in 1972. The means of production are owned by the state through state-run enterprises, most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production are subsidized or state-funded. From 1994 to 1998, North Korea suffered from a famine that resulted in the deaths of between 0.24 and 3.5 million people, and the continues to struggle with food production. North Korea follows Songun, or military-first policy and it is the country with the highest number of military and paramilitary personnel, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million is the fourth largest in the world, after China, North Korea is an atheist state with no official religion and where public religion is discouraged. 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 shortened 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 the division of the country into North and South Korea, the two sides used different terms to refer to Korea, Chosun or Joseon in North Korea, in 1948, North Korea adopted Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea as its new legal name. After the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Korea was occupied by Japan, Japan tried to suppress Korean traditions and culture and ran the economy primarily for its own benefit. Korean resistance groups known as Dongnipgun operated along the Sino-Korean border, some of them took part in allied action in China and parts of South East Asia. One of the leaders was the communist Kim Il-sung, who later became the leader of North Korea
North Korea
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Jikji, the first known book printed with movable metal type in 1377. Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris
North Korea
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Flag
North Korea
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Gyeongbok Palace is the largest of the
Five Grand Palaces built during the
Joseon Dynasty.
North Korea
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Three Koreans shot for pulling up rails as a protest against seizure of land without payment by the Japanese
8.
Kangwon Province (North Korea)
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For the province in South Korea that bears the same name but different romanisation, see Gangwon Province, South Korea. Kangwon Province is a province of North Korea, with its capital at Wŏnsan, before the division of Korea in 1945, Kangwŏn Province and its South Korean neighbour Gangwon Province formed a single province that excluded Wŏnsan. Kangwŏn was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty, the province was formed 1395, and derived its name from the names of the principal cities of Gangneung and the provincial capital Wonju. In 1895, Kangwŏn was replaced by the Districts of Chuncheon in the west, Wonju became part of Chungju District. In 1896, Korea was redivided into thirteen provinces, and the two districts were merged to re-form Kangwŏn Province, although Wonju rejoined Kangwŏn province, the provincial capital was moved to Chuncheon. In 1945, Kangwŏn Province was divided by the 38th parallel north in 1945 into Soviet, in 1946, the northern province was expanded to include the North Korean portion of Gyeonggi Province, and the area around Wŏnsan in South Hamgyŏng Province. The provincial capital of the North Korean portion of the province was established at Wŏnsan, as Kangwŏns traditional capitals Wonju, in 1948, the province became part of the new Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. As a result of the Korean War Armistice Agreement of 1953, in 2002, Mount Kumgang Tourist Region was split off from the rest of the province to form a separately-administered region. The province is bordered by South Hamgyŏng to the north, South Pyŏngan and North Hwanghae to the west, additionally, the province is across the Korean Demilitarized Zone from its South Korean counterpart Gangwon. To the east is the Sea of Japan, the province is dominated by the Taebaek Mountains, the highest peak of which is Mount Kumgang. Kangwŏn and Gangwon Provinces are together referred to as the Gwandong region, the region west of the Taebaek Mountains is called Yŏngsŏ, while the region east of the mountains is called Yŏngdong. In April 2003, the Mt. Chuae Plant Reserve was created, the reserve is 687 hectares and is in Shindong-ri, Sepho County, and Sanyang-ri, Kosan County. Mt. Chuae is 1,528 meters above sea level and is part of the Masingnyong Mountains, the DPRK Nature Conservation Union is tring to preserve mixed forests of pine and broad-leaf trees. The DPRK Cabinet-level decision has banned animal grazing and collecting plant resources, Kangwŏn Province is divided into 2 cities,1 special administrative regions, and 15 counties
Kangwon Province (North Korea)
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Wonsan
Kangwon Province (North Korea)
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Kangwon Province 강원도
9.
Sea of Japan
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The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, and the Asian mainland. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean and it is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific Ocean and this isolation also reflects in the fauna species and in the water salinity, which is lower than in the ocean. The sea has no islands, bays or capes. Its water balance is determined by the inflow and outflow through the straits connecting it to the neighboring seas. Few rivers discharge into the sea and their contribution to the water exchange is within 1%. The seawater has a concentration of dissolved oxygen that results in high biological productivity. Therefore, fishing is the dominant economic activity in the region, the intensity of shipments across the sea has been moderate owing to political issues, but it is steadily increasing as a result of the growth of East Asian economies. The sea is called Rìběn hǎi or originally Jīng hǎi in China, Yaponskoye more in Russia, Chosŏn Tonghae in North Korea, a naming dispute exists about the sea name, with South and North Korea promoting the English translation of its native name East Sea. In Europe, the sea is called Mer du Japon in French, Japanisches Meer in German, Mar del Giappone in Italian, in Southeast Asia, the sea is called Laut Jepun in Malay, Laut Jepang in Indonesian, and Dagat Hapon in Filipino. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Japan Sea as follows, the Northeastern limit of the Eastern China Sea and the Western limit of the Inland Sea. A line running from Nagoya Saki in Kyûsyû through the islands of Uma Sima, from the extremity of Siriya Saki to the extremity of Esan Saki. A line joining Sôni Misaki and Nishi Notoro Misaki, from Cape Tuik to Cape Sushcheva. The Sea of Japan was once a landlocked sea when the bridge of East Asia existed. The onset of formation of the Japan Arc was in Early Miocene, the Early Miocene period also corresponds to incipient opening of the Japan Sea, and the northern and southern parts of the Japanese archipelago that were separated from each other. During the Miocene, there was expansion of Sea of Japan, the northern part of the Japanese archipelago was further fragmented at later periods until the orogenesis of the northeastern Japanese archipelago began in the later Late Miocene. The southern part of the Japanese archipelago remained as a large landmass. The land area had expanded northward in the Late Miocene, the orogenesis of high mountain ranges in the northeastern Japan started in Late Miocene and it lasts in Pliocene also
Sea of Japan
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Relief of the Sea of Japan and nearby areas
Sea of Japan
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Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
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A bay at
Sibiryakov Island, 50 km south from Vladivostok
Sea of Japan
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Sunset on Little Verkhovsky Islands near Vladivostok
10.
Korean War
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The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, U. S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments, both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union, on that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83, Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation, twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UNs military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter, in September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, at this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951, after these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate, North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in combat for the first time in history. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed, the agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, continue to the present, in the U. S. the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a police action as it was an undeclared military action, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. In South Korea, the war is referred to as 625 or the 6–2–5 Upheaval. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War or alternatively the Chosǒn War. In China, the war is called the War to Resist U. S
Korean War
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Clockwise from top: A column of the U.S.
1st Marine Division 's
infantry and
armor moves through Chinese lines during their
breakout from the Chosin Reservoir; UN landing at
Incheon harbor, starting point of the
Battle of Incheon; Korean refugees in front of an American
M26 Pershing tank; U.S. Marines, led by First Lieutenant
Baldomero Lopez, landing at Incheon;
F-86 Sabre fighter aircraft
Korean War
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Three Koreans shot for pulling up rails as a protest against seizure of land without payment by the Japanese
Korean War
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Soviet troops in Korea, October 1945
Korean War
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U.S. troops in Korea, September 1945
11.
South Hamgyong Province
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South Hamgyong Province is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the half of the former Hamgyong Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945. The province is bordered by Ryanggang to the north, North Hamgyong to the northeast, Kangwon to the south, on the east of the province is the Sea of Japan. South Hamgyong is divided into 3 cities,2 districts, and 15 counties and these are further divided into villages, with each county additionally having one town which acts as its administrative center. These are detailed on each individual page. Some cities are divided into wards known as guyok, which are administered just below the city level. Hamhung 함흥시 / 咸興市 Sinpo 신포시 / 新浦市 Tanchon 단천시 / 端川市 Sudong-gu 수동구 / 水洞區 Kumho-chigu 금호지구 / 琴湖地區
South Hamgyong Province
–
South Hamgyong Province 함경남도
12.
Blockade of Wonsan
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The Blockade of Wonsan, or the Siege of Wonsan, from February 16,1951 to July 27,1953, during the Korean War, was the longest naval blockade in modern history, lasting 861 days. UN naval forces, primarily from the United States, successfully kept the important city of Wonsan from being used by the North Korean Navy. The blockade also served to divert communist troops from the front line, North Korean resistance used artillery to oppose the American fleet, although this was mostly ineffective, and the city was heavily damaged by UN naval aircraft and warships. North Korean naval forces had been supplied by the Soviet Union and China with all sorts of sea mines. Soviet military advisors were employed to create more effective mine fields. One of the first objectives of the operation was to begin plotting the locations of mines, because of this, the use of minesweepers became a necessity and eventually dozens would serve in the blockade. Operation Wonsan, or the Clearance of Wonsan, began on October 10 of 1950, rear Admiral James H. Doyle commanded Task Force 90, a fleet of dozens of American warships which were used in the clearance. Two days later on October 12, mines sank the sweepers USS Pledge and USS Pirate, killing men and wounding dozens of others. The United States Navy Pacific Fleet responded by starting the production of new minesweepers in the largest shipbuilding program since World War II. Other vessels were damaged by mines and battery fire as well but the loss of the Pirate, operation Tailboard was the codename for the United States Army landing at Wonsan, and it was found to have been unnecessary. Preparations began over 800 miles away at Inchon where on October 15, thousands of marines and soldiers,30,184 in total, when it came time to land on October 25, the North Koreans had already withdrawn and the British and South Koreans were securing the area. Ultimately the landing was not needed and MacArthur was criticized for not using the X Corps in the pursuit of the retreating North Korean Army on the Inchon front, general MacArthurs plan was to regroup in Japan before launching another offensive, while holding Pusan Perimeter. When the North Koreans and Chinese recaptured the city, defenses were rebuilt in a more formidable way, additional sea mines were deployed, the blockade began on February 16,1951 and would last 861 days until the armistice in July 1953. During nearly three years of blockading United States Navy ships and aircraft engaged shore batteries repeatedly, several American vessels were damaged by land based artillery fire though none were destroyed. UN Task Group 95.2 was assigned to the blockade and they first bombarded Wonsan on February 17,1951, targeting everything used by the communists and causing heavy damage. On February 19, the destroyer USS Ozbourn, under Commander Charles O. Akers, was fired on by shore batteries in the Wonsan area. She received two hits and several near misses and successfully rescued a downed pilot from the USS Valley Forge with a motor boat. The boat officer of the received a Bronze Star for the rescue
Blockade of Wonsan
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An explosion destroys North Korean supplies during the blockade of Wonsan.
Blockade of Wonsan
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A battle map of Operation Wonsan.
Blockade of Wonsan
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USS Manchester alongside USS Mount Katmai in Wonsan Harbor.
Blockade of Wonsan
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USS Manchester (CL-83) firing her 6-inch guns at the Korean coast.
13.
Kumgang-san
–
Kŭmgangsan is a 1, 638-metre -high mountain in Kangwon-do, North Korea. It is about 50 kilometres from the South Korean city of Sokcho in Gangwon-do and it is one of the best-known mountains in North Korea. It is located on the east coast of the country, in Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, Mount Kumgang is part of the Taebaek mountain range which runs along the east of the Korean peninsula. Mount Kumgang has been known for its scenic beauty since ancient times and is the subject of different works of art. Including its spring name, Kŭmgang, it has different names for each season. In summer it is called Pongraesan, in autumn, Phungaksan, in winter, Mount Kumgang is commonly divided into three areas, Inner Kŭmgang, Outer Kŭmgang, and Sea Kŭmgang, each with different geological and topographical features. Inner Kŭmgang is noted for its views, the Manpok ravine is popular with tourists. Outer Kŭmgang is noted for the number of peaks. Chipson Peak is known for its many waterfalls, the Sea Kŭmgang area is known for the lagoons and stone pillars. Much of the mountain is covered by mixed broadleaf and coniferous forest, some 25,000 ha has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area because it supports endangered red-crowned cranes. Since 1998, South Korean tourists have been allowed to visit Mount Kumgang, initially travelling by cruise ship, in 2002, the area around the mountain was separated from Kangwŏn Province and organized as a separately-administered Tourist Region. The land route was opened in 2003, a rail link exists on the North Korean side up to the border, but no tracks are laid between Gangneung and the border in South Korea. In 1998, there were 15,500 tourists in November and December, in 1999 there were 148,000, in 2001 tourist numbers dropped to 58,000 amidst disagreements over the access over land. As of 2002, almost 500,000 have visited the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, Tourist numbers have since established themselves at about 240,000 a year. In June 2005, Hyundai Asan announced the one millionth South Korean visit to the area, the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region is thought to be one way for the North Korean government to receive hard currency from abroad. Therefore, the currency of the tour is neither the South Korean won nor the North Korean won. Since 2003, food and services to South Korean tourists are provided by some North Koreans, but most of the staff in the hotels are Chinese citizens of Korean heritage with Korean language skills. The area is developed by Hyundai Asan, which plans to expand the site with a ski resort to complement the current sleigh course
Kumgang-san
–
The path to Kuryoung Falls
Kumgang-san
–
Location of Mount Kumgang.
Kumgang-san
–
Kuryong Falls
Kumgang-san
–
Japanese map of Kongō-san, or Mount Kumgang in 1939.
14.
Administrative divisions of North Korea
–
The administrative divisions of North Korea are organized into three hierarchical levels. These divisions were discovered in 2002, many of the units have equivalents in the system of South Korea. At the highest level are nine provinces, two directly governed cities, and three administrative divisions. The second-level divisions are cities, counties, wards, and districts and these are further subdivided into third-level entities, towns, neighborhoods, villages, and workers districts. The three-level administrative system used in North Korea was first inaugurated by Kim Il-sung in 1952, previously, the country had used a multi-level system similar to that still used in South Korea. The nine provinces derive from the provinces of Korea, but have been further subdivided since the division of Korea. They are large areas including cities, rural and mountainous regions, the two special cities are large metropolitan cities that have been separated from their former provinces to become first-level units. Four other cities have been governed in the past, but were subsequently reunited with their provinces or otherwise reorganized. The three special administrative regions were all created in 2002 for the development of collaborative ventures with South Korea, one of them, the Sinuiju Special Administrative Region, was intended to draw Chinese investment and enterprise, but as of 2006 appears never to have been implemented. The special administrative regions do not have any known second- and third-level subdivisions, see List of second-level administrative divisions of North Korea for a complete list. The most common division is the county, a less urbanized area within a province or directly governed city. The more populous districts within provinces are cities, and the city of Nampho is a special city, some provinces also have two types of districts. The city centers of the directly governed cities are organized into wards, rural parts of cities and counties are organized into villages. The downtown areas within cities are divided into neighborhoods, and a part of a county forms a town. Some counties also have workers districts
Administrative divisions of North Korea
–
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
15.
Humid continental climate
–
Precipitation is usually well distributed through the year. Some climatologists prefer to use the 0 °C isotherm as it is commonly used. In addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid, humid continental climates tend to be found between latitudes 40° N and 60° N, within the central and northeastern portions of North America, Europe, and Asia. They are much less commonly found in the Southern Hemisphere due to the ocean area at that latitude. More extreme humid continental climates found in southern Siberia and the American Midwest combine hotter summer maxima, climatological averages are used to determine which locations are within a certain climate regime. The World Meteorological Organization has defined this average as through a 30 year period, the version from 1936 utilized a mean temperature of the coldest month of below −3 °C and there must be at least four months whose mean temperatures are at or above 10 °C. In Europe, the −3 °C average temperature isotherm was near the extent of winter snowpack. Many climatologists in the U. S. prefer to use 0 °C as the standard because they feel it better reflects consistency in regional landscapes, the 10 °C average temperature was found to be the minimum temperature necessary for the tree growth. Large temperature ranges are common within this climate zone, in addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid. This is from an update to the climate regime definition introduced by Trewartha & Horn in 1980, despite the 1980 update, climate regimes are essentially the same within the Southern Hemisphere. The largest changes are seen in North America, Europe, under Köppen, the following variants of this climate are possible. The climate regime uses a three letter code, beginning with the letter D. Otherwise, The second letter f , s , A dry summer — the driest summer month has at most 30 millimetres of rainfall and has at most 1⁄3 the precipitation of the wettest winter month. W , A dry winter — the driest winter month has at most one‑tenth of the found in the wettest summer month. The third letter a , Warmest month averages above 22 °C b , Does not meet the requirements for a, within North America, moisture within this climate regime is supplied by the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent western subtropical Atlantic. Snowfall occurs in all areas with a continental climate and in many such places is more common than rain during the height of winter. In places with sufficient wintertime precipitation, the cover is often deep. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms, and in North America, though humidity levels are often high in locations with humid continental climates, the humid designation means that the climate is not dry enough to be classified as semi-arid or arid. By definition, forests thrive within this climate, biomes within this climate regime include temperate woodlands, temperate grasslands, temperate deciduous, temperature evergreen forests, and coniferous forests
Humid continental climate
–
The snowy city of
Sapporo, Japan.
Humid continental climate
–
Dsa
Humid continental climate
–
Deciduous forest in autumn
16.
Humid subtropical climate
–
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterised by hot, usually humid summers and mild to cool winters. It normally lies on the southeast side of all continents, generally between latitudes 25° and 40° and it tends to be located at coastal or near coastal locations. However, in cases it extends inland, most notably in China. Under the Köppen climate classification, subtropical climates are found in the warmest parts of his Warm Temperate climates or Cfa and this climate features mean temperatures in the coldest month between 0 °C and 18 °C and mean temperatures in the warmest month 22 °C or higher. However, while some climatologists have opted to describe this type as a humid subtropical climate Köppen himself never used this term. The humid subtropical climate classification was created under the Trewartha Climate classification. The Trewartha system was a 1966 update of the Köppen climate classification and this was seen to effectively separate temperate climates like London or New York City from true subtropical locations like Brisbane or Savannah for example. Rainfall often shows a peak, especially where monsoons are well developed, as in Southeast Asia. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms that build up due to the surface heating and strong subtropical sun angle. Weak tropical lows that move in from adjacent warm tropical oceans, winter rainfall is often associated with large storms in the westerlies that have fronts that reach down into subtropical latitudes. However, many subtropical climates such as southeast Asia or Florida have very dry winters, with frequent brush fires, in Africa, the humid subtropical climates are found in two separate areas on the southern hemisphere of the continent. The Cwa climate is found over a portion of the interior of the Middle. Some lower portions of the Ethiopian Highlands also have this climate, the climate is also found in the narrow coastal sections of southern and eastern South Africa, primarily in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces. South Africas version of this climate features heavy oceanic influences resulting in milder temperatures. This is particularly evident in its winters when temperatures do not drop as low as in other regions within the humid subtropical category. Locations in Asia with a subtropical climate differ from those in other continents in that they often have marked seasonal differences in precipitation. Cities near the boundary of this zone include Hong Kong, Hanoi. At Hainan Island and in Taiwan, the transitions from subtropical into fully tropical
Humid subtropical climate
–
Cfa
17.
Precipitation
–
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
Precipitation
–
A thunderstorm with heavy precipitation
Precipitation
–
Long-term mean precipitation by month
Precipitation
–
Late-summer
rainstorm in
Denmark
Precipitation
–
Lenticular cloud forming due to mountains over Wyoming
18.
Sunshine duration
–
It is a general indicator of cloudiness of a location, and thus differs from insolation, which measures the total energy delivered by sunlight over a given period. Sunshine duration is usually expressed in hours per year, or in hours per day, the first measure indicates the general sunniness of a location compared with other places, while the latter allows for comparison of sunshine in various seasons in the same location. Another often-used measure is percentage ratio of recorded bright sunshine duration, an important use of sunshine duration data is to characterize the climate of sites, especially of health resorts. This also takes account the psychological effect of strong solar light on human well-being. It is often used to promote tourist destinations, if the Sun were to be above the horizon 50% of the time for a standard year consisting of 8,760 hours, apparent maximal daytime duration would be 4,380 hours for any point on Earth. However, there are physical and astronomical effects that change that picture, namely, atmospheric refraction allows the Sun to be still visible even when it physically sets below the horizon. For that reason, average daytime is longest in polar areas, places on the Arctic Circle have the longest total annual daytime,4,647 hours, while the North Pole receives 4,575. Because of elliptic nature of the Earths orbit, the Southern Hemisphere is not symmetrical, the Equator has a total daytime of 4,422 hours per year. Given the theoretical maximum of daytime duration for a given location, bright sunshine hours represent the total hours when the sunlight is stronger than a specified threshold, as opposed to just visible hours. Visible sunshine, for example, occurs around sunrise and sunset, measurement is performed by instruments called sunshine recorders. For the specific purpose of sunshine duration recording, Campbell–Stokes recorders are used, when the intensity exceeds a pre-determined threshold, the tape burns. The total length of the trace is proportional to the number of bright hours. Another type of recorder is the Jordan sunshine recorder, newer, electronic recorders have more stable sensitivity than that of the paper tape. In 2003, the duration was finally defined as the period during which direct solar irradiance exceeds a threshold value of 120 W/m². The sky is clear in these regions, and fair weather is virtually perpetual, the descending branch of the Hadley cell and the long-term lack of atmospheric disturbances helps to explain the seemingly endless supply of sunny, cloud-free days in the deserts. Low clouding conditions are associated with rainfall shortage, as seen in these dry regions. In the belt encompassing northern Chad and the Tibesti Mountains, northern Sudan, southern Libya, some places in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula receive 3, 600–3,800 hours of bright sunshine annually. The largest sun-baked region in the world is North Africa, the sunniest month in the world is December in Eastern Antarctica, with almost 23 hours of bright sun daily
Sunshine duration
–
Campbell–Stokes recorder measures sunshine
19.
Gyeongwon Line
–
The Gyeongwon Line is a railway line serving northeastern Gyeonggi Province in South Korea. The line is operated by Korail, the name of the line came from Gyeongseong and Wonsan, the original terminus of the line in what is now North Korea. The Gyeongwon line was opened along its length between Yongsan Station in Seoul and Wonsan by the Chosen Government Railway on August 16,1914. This line was extended as follows, The Gyeongwon Line was the first in Korea to be electrified, as part of a plan to create a line all the way from Busan to Xinjing. The first stage of this plan was the electrification of the Gyeongwon, Gyeonggyeong and Gyeongin lines, and in March 1940, the division of Korea cut the line in half in 1945. The South Korean part of the line is 88.8 km long between Yongsan and Sintan-ri, the North Korean section is now part of the Kangwŏn Line. Further sections were electrified and Line 1 services was extended in the 1980s and then in the 2000s, Altogether 55.6 km of the line was electrified, and 53.1 km was double-tracked. On September 1,2010, the South Korean government announced a plan to reduce travel times from Seoul to 95% of the country to under 2 hours by 2020. As part of the plan, the Gyeongwon Line is to be upgraded until Uijeongbu for 230 km/h. In 2012 restoration of the line was completed between Sintan-ri Station and Cheorwon Station, the North Korean section, between Pyŏnggang and Wonsan has been extended northwards to Kowon and now forms the Kangwon Line. Korail Transportation in South Korea List of Korea-related topics Japanese Government Railways, 昭和12年10月1日現在, Kawaguchi Printing Company, Tokyo, pp 495-496 Media related to Gyeongwon Line at Wikimedia Commons
Gyeongwon Line
–
Gyeongwon Line
20.
Pyongyang
–
Pyongyang is the capital and largest city of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The city was split from the South Pyongan province in 1946 and it is administered as a directly governed city on the same level as provincial governments, as opposed to a special city as Seoul is in South Korea. Pyongyang literally means Flat Land in Korean, one of Pyongyangs many historic names is Ryugyong, or capital of willows, as willow trees have always been numerous throughout the citys history, this served as an inspiration for many poems. Even today, the city has numerous trees, with many buildings. The most notable of these is the impressive Ryugyong Hotel, started in 1987, the citys other historic names include Kisong, Hwangsong, Rakrang, Sŏgyong, Sodo, Hogyong, Changan, and Heijō. During the early 20th century, Pyongyang came to be known among missionaries as being the Jerusalem of the East, due to its status as a stronghold of Christianity. In 1955, archaeologists excavated evidence of occupation in a large ancient village in the Pyongyang area, called Kŭmtan-ni. North Koreans associate Pyongyang with Asadal, or Wanggomsŏng, the first second millennium BC capital of the Gojoseon kingdom according to Korean history books, notably Samguk Yusa. Many South Korean historians deny this claim because other Chinese history books such as the Guanzi, Shanhaijing, Shiji, the connection between the two therefore may have been asserted by North Korea for the use of propaganda. Nevertheless, Pyongyang became a city under Gojoseon. Pyongyang was founded in 1122 BC on the site of the Tangun Dynastys capital and it is likely that the area of Pyongyang belonged to Wiman Joseon, the shortest-lasting part of Gojoseon if both Dangun and Gija Joseon were real, which fell in the Gojoseon–Han War in 108 BC. Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty ordered four commanderies be set up, with Lelang Commandery in the center, several archaeological findings from the later, Eastern Han period in the Pyongyang area seems to suggest that Han forces later launched brief incursions around these parts. The area around the city was called Nanglang during the early Three Kingdoms period, as the capital of Nanglang kingdom, Pyongyang remained an important commercial and cultural outpost after Lelang Commandery was destroyed by an expanding Goguryeo in 313. Goguryeo moved its capital there in 427, according to Christopher Beckwith, Pyongyang is the Sino-Korean reading of the name they gave it in their language, Piarna, or level land. In 668, Pyongyang became the capital of the Protectorate General to Pacify the East established by the Tang dynasty of China, however, by 676, it was taken by Silla, but left on the border between Silla and Balhae. This lasted until the time of the Goryeo dynasty, when the city was revived as Sŏgyŏng although it was never actually a capital of the kingdom and it was the provincial capital of the Pyeongan Province during the Joseon dynasty. During the Japanese invasions of Korea, Pyongyang was captured by the Japanese until the Japanese were defeated in the Siege of Pyongyang, later in the 17th century, it became temporarily occupied during Second Manchu invasion of Korea until peace arrangements were made between Korea and the Manchus. While the invasions made Koreans suspicious of foreigners, the influence of Christianity began to grow after the country opened itself up to foreigners in the 16th century
Pyongyang
–
Clockwise from top left: Pyongyang's Skyline;
Juche Tower;
Arch of Triumph; Tomb of
King Dongmyeong; Puhŭng Station,
Pyongyang Metro;
Arch of Reunification; and
Kumsusan Palace of the Sun
Pyongyang
–
Korean and Chinese offensive during the
Siege of Pyongyang (1593)
Pyongyang
–
The aftermath of the Wanpaoshan Incident
Pyongyang
–
Mansudae Assembly Hall, seat of the
Supreme People's Assembly, the North Korean parliament
21.
Seoul
–
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
Seoul
–
Sights in Seoul (clockwise from top):
Gwanghwamun Gate at
Gyeongbokgung Palace; statue of Admiral
Yi Sun-sin; statue at the
War Memorial of Korea; food storage jars at Gyeonbokgung Palace;
Jongmyo Shrine;
Myeongdong Cathedral; statue of King
Sejong the Great; and (center)
N Seoul Tower.
Seoul
–
Gyeongbokgung
Seoul
–
Donggwoldo, the landscape painting of Changdeokgung
Seoul
–
Han River
22.
Kim Il Sung
–
Kim Il-sung was the supreme leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as North Korea, for 46 years, from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and he was also the leader of the Workers Party of Korea from 1949 to 1994. Coming to power after the overthrow of Japanese rule in 1945, he authorized the invasion of South Korea in 1950, a cease-fire in the Korean War was signed on 27 July 1953. Under his leadership, North Korea became a workers state with a publicly owned planned economy. It had close political and economic relations with the Soviet Union, by the 1960s and 1970s, North Korea enjoyed a relatively high standard of living, outperforming the South, which was riddled with political instability and economic crises. Despite this, the country still received massive funds, subsidies, during this period, the DPRK also remained critical of capitalism and the United States, seizing the American ship USS Pueblo in 1968. A cult of personality around Kim Il-sung came to domestic politics. His birthday is a holiday in North Korea and is called the Day of the Sun. Controversy surrounds Kims life before the founding of North Korea, with some sources labeling him an impostor, several sources indicate that the name Kim Il-sung had previously been used by a prominent early leader of the Korean resistance, Kim Kyung-cheon. The Soviet officer Grigory Mekler, who worked with Kim during the Soviet occupation, however, historian Andrei Lankov has argued that this is unlikely to be true. Several witnesses knew Kim before and after his time in the Soviet Union, including his superior, Zhou Baozhong, historian Bruce Cumings pointed out that Japanese officers from the Kwantung Army have attested to his fame as a resistance figure. Historians generally accept that, while Kims exploits were exaggerated by the personality cult that was built around him, Kims family is said to have originated from Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. His great-grandfather, Kim Ung-u, settled in Mangyong-dae in 1860, Kim is reported to have been born in the small village of Mangyungbong near Pyongyang on 15 April 1912. Born to Kim Hyŏng-jik and Kang Pan-sŏk, who gave him the name Kim Sŏng-ju, according to Kim, his family was not very poor, but was always a step away from poverty. According to the version, Kim’s family participated in anti-Japanese activities. Like most Korean families, they resented the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula, another view seems to be that his family settled in Manchuria, as many Koreans had at the time to escape famine. Nonetheless, Kims parents, especially Kims mother Kang Ban Suk and their exact involvement — whether their cause was missionary, nationalist, or both — is unclear nevertheless. Still, Japanese repression of opposition was brutal, resulting in the arrest and this repression forced many Korean families to flee Korea and settle in Manchuria
Kim Il Sung
–
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il Sung
–
Kim Il-sung and
Kim Tu-bong at the joint meeting of the
New People's Party and the
Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, 1946.
Kim Il Sung
–
Kim on a 1956 visit to East Germany, chatting with painter
Otto Nagel and Prime Minister
Otto Grotewohl.
Kim Il Sung
–
Kim greets visiting Romanian President
Nicolae Ceaușescu in Pyongyang, 1971.
23.
Kim Jong Il
–
Kim Jong-il was the supreme leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as North Korea, from 1994 to 2011. By the early 1980s Kim had become the heir apparent for the leadership of the country and assumed important posts in the party and he succeeded his father and founder of the DPRK, Kim Il-sung, following the elder Kims death in 1994. Kims leadership is thought to have even more authoritarian than his fathers. During Kims regime, the country suffered from famine, partially due to economic mismanagement, Kim involved his country in state terrorism and strengthened the role of the military by his Songun, or military-first, politics. Kims rule also saw tentative economic reforms, including the opening of the Kaesong Industrial Park in 2003, in April 2009, North Koreas constitution was amended to officially refer to him as the supreme leader of the DPRK. The most common title given to him during his reign was The Dear Leader to distinguish him from his father Kim Il-sung. Following Kims failure to appear at important public events in 2008, Kim Jong-ils mother, Kim Jong-suk, was Kim Il-sungs first wife. Inside his family, he was nicknamed Yura, while his younger brother Kim Man-il was nicknamed Shura, however, Kim Jong-ils official biography states he was born in a secret military camp on Paektu Mountain in Japanese-occupied Korea on 16 February 1942. According to one comrade of Kims mother, Lee Min, word of Kims birth first reached a camp in Vyatskoye via radio. In 1945, Kim was four years old when World War II ended and his father returned to Pyongyang that September, and in late November Kim returned to Korea via a Soviet ship, landing at Sonbong. The family moved into a former Japanese officers mansion in Pyongyang, with a garden, Kim Jong-ils brother drowned there in 1948. Reports indicate that his mother died in childbirth in 1949, according to his official biography, Kim completed the course of general education between September 1950 and August 1960. He attended Primary School No.4 and Middle School No.1 in Pyongyang. This is contested by academics, who believe he is more likely to have received his early education in the Peoples Republic of China as a precaution to ensure his safety during the Korean War. Throughout his schooling, Kim was involved in politics and he was active in the Korean Childrens Union and the Democratic Youth League of North Korea, taking part in study groups of Marxist political theory and other literature. In September 1957 he became vice-chairman of his middle schools DYL branch and he pursued a programme of anti-factionalism and attempted to encourage greater ideological education among his classmates. Kim is also said to have received English language education at the University of Malta in the early 1970s, the elder Kim had meanwhile remarried and had another son, Kim Pyong-il. Since 1988, Kim Pyong-il has served in a series of North Korean embassies in Europe and was the North Korean ambassador to Poland, foreign commentators suspect that Kim Pyong-il was sent to these distant posts by his father in order to avoid a power struggle between his two sons
Kim Jong Il
–
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong Il
–
Idealized portrait of Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong Il
–
North Koreans bowing to the statues of Kim Jong-il and his father,
Kim Il-sung, at the
Mansu Hill Grand Monument
Kim Jong Il
–
Kim Jong-il talking with Russian President
Vladimir Putin during their 2001 meeting in Moscow.
24.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
–
Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
–
Flag
United States
–
The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
–
The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
25.
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
South Korea
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Flag
South Korea
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Balhae and
Silla, 830 CE
South Korea
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Jikji, the first known book printed with movable metal type in 1377. Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris
26.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
China
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Yinxu, ruins of an ancient
palace dating from the
Shang Dynasty (14th century BCE)
China
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Flag
China
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Some of the thousands of life-size
Terracotta Warriors of the
Qin Dynasty, c. 210 BCE
China
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The
Great Wall of China was built by several dynasties over two thousand years to protect the sedentary agricultural regions of the
Chinese interior from incursions by
nomadic pastoralists of the northern
steppes.
27.
United Nations
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, the UNs mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in actions in Korea and the Congo. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military, the UN has six principal organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Trusteeship Council. UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, the UNs most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UNs work, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UNs effectiveness have been mixed, some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France, four Policemen was coined to refer to four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries, the term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. Each Government pledges itself to cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto, the foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism. During the war, the United Nations became the term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis, at the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, the General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General
United Nations
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1943 sketch by Franklin Roosevelt of the United Nations' original three branches: The
Four Policemen, an executive branch, and an international assembly of forty UN member states.
United Nations
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Flag
United Nations
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The
Chilean delegation signing the
UN Charter in San Francisco, 1945
United Nations
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Dag Hammarskjöld was a particularly active Secretary-General from 1953 until his death in 1961.
28.
38th parallel north
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The 38th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees north of the Earths equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, the 38th parallel north formed the border between North and South Korea prior to the Korean War. At this latitude the sun is visible for 14 hours,48 minutes during the solstice and 9 hours,32 minutes during the winter solstice. This parallel divides the Korean peninsula roughly in the middle, in 1948, this parallel became the boundary between the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea, both of which claim to be the government of the whole of Korea. On 25 June 1950, after a series of cross-border raids and this sparked a United Nations resolution against the aggression and the Korean War, with United Nations troops helping to defend South Korea. After the Armistice ended the Korean War in 1953, a new border was established based on the territory that each held at that point. This Military Demarcation Line is surrounded by a Demilitarized Zone and it crosses the 38th parallel, from the southwest to the northeast. The new border is often described as the 38th parallel. 37th parallel north 38th parallel structures 39th parallel north Circle of latitude Oberdorfer, the Two Koreas, A Contemporary History. 38th parallel at the Encyclopædia Britannica
38th parallel north
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The land on the left side of the boundary in this picture belongs to South Korea while on the right side it belongs to North Korea.
29.
Wonju
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Wonju is the most populous city in Gangwon province, South Korea. Wonju is a city approximately 140 kilometres east of Seoul and the capital can be reached within 1hr 20 minutes by bus or train, Wonju was the site of three crucial battles during the Korean War. Wonju City is divided into 1 eup,8 myeon and 16 dong and their home stadium is Wonju Sports complex and it is located in Myeongnyun il-dong, Wonju. Wonju Dongbu Promy won the Championship threetime
Wonju
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Wonju 원주시
30.
Chuncheon
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Chuncheon is the capital of Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city lies in the north of the county, located in a formed by the Soyang River. There are some large lakes around the city, most notably Lake Soyang, the area is renowned for its small river islands, such as Sangjungdo, Ha-Jungdo, Bungeodo, and Wido. It is a popular destination among east Asian tourists as it was featured in the popular Korean drama Winter Sonata and it is where the resort island of Namiseom is located. Chuncheon is the hometown of former prime minister Han Seung-soo, football player Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur F. C. famous novelist Kim You-jeong, the area now occupied by the city was first settled about 1000 years ago. In 637 AD the city was called Usooju, in 757 AD it was renamed Saku and again in 940 AD as Chunju before receiving its current name in 1413. In 1896, Chuncheon became the city of Gangwon province. The city was destroyed during the Korean War during the Battle of Chuncheon. Uiam Dam on the Bukhan River was completed in 1967, in 1995 Chuncheon city was merged with the government of the surrounding Chuncheon county. In the spring, the Chuncheon International Mime Festival is held, in the summer, the Chuncheon Puppet Festival takes place. There is also a Makguksu festival, a noodle dish that originated in Chuncheon. Also celebrated in the summer is the International Animation Festival, the city has had its own annual marathon race since 1946, the Chuncheon Marathon is held every October. In winter, snow and ice festivals are organized, currently, MAC Architects-Consultants Group Ltd. is building the Design and Arts Arcadia of Myungseung in Chuncheon. According to the legend surrounding Cheongpyeongsa temple in Chuncheon-si, a man loved a princess so much that he became a snake and wouldnt leave her alone. When she begged leave to collect rice from the temple, the let her go but then went looking for her. The princess then buried him at the temple, the city was historically known as a chicken farming region, and is famous for dak galbi, which translates as chicken ribs. It consists of chicken, sliced cabbage, sweet potatoes, tteok and it is usually cooked in a big iron pan in the center of the table, but the original method is over charcoal. Despite the name, the dish is made from leg meat
Chuncheon
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Chuncheon 춘천시
Chuncheon
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Chuncheon Station, before reconstruction
North Korea
Sakaiminato, Tottori, Japan (1992–2006)
Puebla, Mexico[16]
Vladivostok, Russia[17]
Malacca, Malaysia
