Han Korea Culture

North Korea

North Korea

North Korea inhabits eastern Asia and is located between Korea bay and the Sea of Japan. It's composed of mainly highlands such as Mountains, hills, and bigger to smaller valleys. Its on the northern side of the peninsula,and borders Russia. In the Korean war of 1950-53 the southern and northern parts of Korea were separated.

Lew, Young Ick , Lee, Jung Ha , Hahn, Bae-ho , Lee, Chan and Yu, Woo-ik. "North Korea". Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 May. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/place/North-Korea. Accessed 24 May 2022.

South Korea

South Korea

South Korea inhabits eastern Asia similar to North Korea and is located between China and the Sea of Japan. It's composed of rolling green hillsides and cherry blossom dotted fields, not to mention the harbors. Its on the southern side of the peninsula. In this Presentation we will be briefly discussing the different cultural things between northern and southern Korea. Despite being under the same title, both places are harshly different.

South Korea

south korea’s government falls under “centralized democratic republic,” meaning they follow a constitution, and have three branches of their government (executive, judicial, and legislative.) south koreans vote on who their president should be, and once elected they will serve one five year term, with additional terms not being permitted. the president is the head of state, head of government, and commander in chief of the armed forces.

North Korea

north korea’s government falls under “communist state under totalitarian dictatorship,” meaning the supreme leader has complete control over the country. like south korea, they have a constitution they follow, and three branches of government. the judicial branch does not practice any form of judicial review, and the security forces interfere with their actions so much that the conclusion of most cases are foregone. the legislative branch also does not practice any form of review, and will pass all proposals by the government intoxication law with almost no debate or changes. the elections in north korea are simply for show, as they are non-competitive and have only one candidate.

South Korea

South Korea is very rich in culture and has quite a bit of entertainment, some movies and shows from south korea are Squid Game, Train to Busan, Peninsula, Parasite, The Sound of Magic, etc. South Korea also has some festivals such as Chuseok (Harvest Moon Festival), Seoul Drum Festival, Chuncheon International Mime Festival, etc.

South Korea

North Korea

In North Korea they have entertainment like dolphinariums, karaoke, and many North Koreans watch South Korean dramas and movies even though it is illegal, it is very easy to sneak in. North has only 2 major festivals, the Spring Dragon Boat Festival and the Mass Games, which visitors are aloud to attend.

North Korea

North Korea

North Korea

~ DAY OF THE SUN (15TH APRIL)

The Day of the sun is a North Korean holiday that celebrates president Kim II Sung’s birthday. It is celebrated with fireworks, public mass dances, a flower festival, and spring arts festival. People commonly visit different places that are connected directly to Kim II Sung.

~ FOUNDING DAY (9TH SEPTEMBER)

As given away by the title this day symbolizes the independence of North Korea won on 9-9 and is celebrated in many ways. Athletic events, art exhibits and exhibitions are all commonly held. On jubilee years (such as 60th and 70th anniversary of Founding day, they have military parades in honor of it all.

South Korea

~ Seotdal Geumeum, Jan 31, 2022

Seotdal Geumeum, also called Semit, is the lunar New Year’s Eve, On this day people stay up until the first cry of the rooster at dawn. It symbolizes rebirth and renewal of the new calendar and year.

“ Seotdal Geumeum is associated with various customs including mugeun sebae (Kor. 묵은세배, Chin. 묵은歲拜, lit. Old Year’s bows), suse (Kor. 수세, Chin. 守歲, keeping the Year [’s Eve vigil]), mandu charye (Kor. 만두차례, Chin. 饅頭茶禮, offering ceremony with dumplings called mandu).” As this quote mentions, they have many separate customs and rituals. This isn’t even mentioning the separate health rituals to ensure a safe upcoming year. All these customs are focused around a celebration to complete unfinished plans for the new year, and say goodbye to the last.

~ Buddha's Birthday , May 8, 2022

This holiday, despite being specific to not Korean culture, but Buddhist culture, is still widely considered a Korean holiday in South Korea. It falls on the 8th day of the fourth month in the lunar calendar. It’s considered a carnival in their culture, lotus lanterns and temples for people to see. There are masked dancers and acrobatic performances for people to witness and for breakfast they feast on a vegetable dish called bibimbab.

South Korea

South Korea

" According to the 2015 statistics, 44% of South Koreans identified with a religion."

South Korea is home to all the major world religions. This includes Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Confucianism. They all peacefully exist with shamanism. A culture based religion in Northern Europe and Siberia.

North Korea

Unlike Southern Korea, North Korea holds a lot of drama around religion. Their Government states there is freedom of religion, however looking into the cases and statements of the people, there is some religious discrimination. Overall Northern Korea is an atheist state.

North Korea

North Korea

In North Korea the High School days go for about 16 hours from 8am to 10pm. The elementary school, called people's school, begins at age six and takes four years to complete. The secondary school in North Korea is higher middle school, and it provides six years of schooling. Higher middle school has two levels. The lower-level middle school takes 4 years from age 10 to 13, and the higher-level high school takes 2 years from age 14 to 15.

South Korea

Normal South Korean High School days go for about 8am to 4pm or a couple hours longer depending on the school. South Korea’s education system allows people to get an even opportunity for school, 6 years of elementary school, 3 years of middle school, 3 years of high school, and 4 years of university.

South Korea

North Korea

Most customs and practices are scarcely similar to South Korea. However the importance of the customs is far more elevated in northern Korea. There are a few more rules if visiting the country though, which I will tell you about now. (Once again these are directly quoted for better understanding. Thank you, https://www.anothertravel.com/asia/north-korea/culture-etiquette/)

Do not take photographs of anything that could be of strategic importance or of things that you been told specifically not to.

Bringing gifts such as cigarettes or Scotch whisky for the men, both guides and the driver, and chocolate or skin cream for female guides is a nice gesture.

solemnly bow and lay flowers on one or two occasions in front of statues of Kim Il Sung when visiting monuments of national importance.

When photographing statues, especially Mansudae, be sure to get the entire statue in the photo. Formal dress is also expected at important monuments such as Mansudae or in visiting the Kumsusang Memorial Palace

“North Korean Culture Customs and Etiquette.” Another Travel, 23 Sept. 2020, https://www.anothertravel.com/asia/north-korea/culture-etiquette/.

South Korea

DISCLAIMER: This next portion is directly quoted due to wanting to give a full understanding of how to be respectful without speaking on areas I am not an expert in. ( Thank you so much to https://www.commisceo-global.com/resources/country-guides/south-korea-guide#C4 for an incredible resource and base of my quoting.)

~Taboos:

“-Do not wear your shoes in places of worship or peoples’ homes

-Do not put your feet on furniture

-Do not eat or drink in public places while walking

-Do not place your thumb between your middle and index finger while making a fist as this an obscene gesture

-Do not use red ink.

-Do not use the number four if at all possible – if giving gifts, do not give four of something.

-Do not stand too close to people you are meeting for the first time – keep an arms length between you.”