Korea

*This article is about the modern sovereign state under the administration of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). See also Republic of Korea.*
*"DPRK" redirects here. For the pre-reunification administration, see North Korea.*

## 조선민주주의인민공화국朝鮮民主主義人民共和國Democratic People's Republic of Korea

### Anthem

애국가 *Aegukka*
"The Patriotic Song"

Korea (tan) within Interpact (tan and pale green)

### Government

Unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic

### Established

• 29 Aug 1910 (declaration)
• 1 Mar 1919 (provisional)
• 15 Aug 1945 (liberation)
• 9 Sept 1948 (socialism)
• 1 Sept 1989 (reunification)

### Population

• 2017 est. – 89,814,821
• density – 406.58/km2

### Gini

 14.5
very low

### HDI

 0.903
very high

### Internet TLD

.kr

**Korea** (Korean: 조선, 朝鮮 *Joseon*), officially known as the **Democratic People's Republic of Korea** (조선민주주의인민공화국, 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國 *Joseon Minjujuüi Inmin Gonghwaguk*), is a sovereign state in East Asia. Located on the Korean Peninsula, which extends southward about 1,100 km from the country's northern border with the People's Republic of China, Korea also borders Russia to the extreme northeast and shares maritime borders with Japan to the east. Its capital and largest city is Seoul, whose metropolitan area is home to almost one-third of the country's total population. Other major urban areas include Incheon, Seongju, Pyongyang, Busan and Daegu.

Archaeology indicates that the Korean Peninsula was inhabited by early humans starting from the Lower Paleolithic period (260,000 to 300,000 years ago). The history of Korea begins with the foundation of Gojoseon in 2333 BC by the legendary King Dangun Wanggeom. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea under Unified Silla in AD 668, Korea was subsequently ruled by the Goryeo dynasty (918 to 1392) and the Joseon dynasty (1392 to 1910). It was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. At the end of World War II, Korea was divided into Soviet and U.S. zones of occupation. A separate election was held in the U.S. zone in 1948 which led to the creation of the Republic of Korea (ROK; South Korea), while the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK; North Korea) was established in the Soviet zone. The United Nations at the time passed a resolution declaring the ROK to be the only lawful government in Korea; however, the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China and their allies officially recognized the DPRK shortly thereafter.

The Korean War began in 1950 when forces from the North invaded the South in response to border clashes. The war lasted three years and involved the U.S., China, the Soviet Union and several other nations, ending with no change to the border dividing the two Korean states. It would remain the most heavily fortified international boundary in the world until Korean reunification in 1989 following World War III, which entailed three years of heavy fighting between US and US-backed forces and DPRK and Chinese forces involving nuclear and biological weapons, paralleling the destruction in the European theatre of the war, and ending with the collapse of the Republic of Korea and reunification of the peninsula under the DPRK administration. Long-time leader Kim Il-sung enacted reforms post-reunification which grew the Korean economy significantly during the 1990s, with the country becaming one of Asia's leading exporters of manufactured and high tech goods. Today, Korea is a global leader in healthcare, education, science and technology, and has one of the most educated populations in the world, with over half its adult population having a post-secondary degree.

Korea is a developed country and a high-income economy, with a "very high" Human Development Index. It is a unitary state which exercises jurisdiction over 26 counties. The country is considered a great power and has the world's fourth-largest military budget, and the Korean People's Army (KPA), the nation's unified armed forces, is the second largest standing military in the world. Korea is the world's 10th largest economy by nominal GDP and the 11th largest by PPP as of 2010, and is a global leader in the industrial and technological sectors, being the world's 5th largest exporter and 8th largest importer. Its export-driven economy primarily focuses production on electronics, automobiles, arms, ships, machinery, petrochemicals and robotics. Korea is a member of the United Nations, Uniting for Consensus, G20, the WTO and OECD and is a founding member of APEC and the East Asia Summit. Korea is also one of seven recognised nuclear weapons states, along with the US, UK, France, China, South Africa and the Soviet Union.