CM December 2023

COUNTRY FOCUS
South Korea is a
destination worthy
of any corporate
agenda.
KOREA OPPORTUNITY
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
CINEMA, K-POP, Cosmetics,
Samsung and Chaebols.
Just some of the things that
South Korea in sixty years
has become known for.
Its creation followed a
three-year war that not only redrew the
geopolitical map of the Korean Peninsula,
but which was never officially concluded.
Winding the clock back somewhat,
and looking at South Korea in particular,
there are Chinese records of a 7th century
BC first kingdom and more ‘recently’,
the unification of three kingdoms into a
single entity ruled by the Goryeo dynasty
(918-1392), the Joseon dynasty (1392-
1897), a Korean Empire (1897-1910) and
the Japanese Empire from 1910 until its
surrender at the end of World War Two.
Just like Germany, post-war Korea was
divided into a northern zone occupied by
the Soviets and a southern zone occupied by
the Americans. Reunifications talks failed
in 1948 leading to the creation of the states
we see today – South Korea, or officially
the Republic of Korea, which occupies the
southern part of the Korean Peninsula,
and North Korea which itself is known as
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
It should be noted that the two Koreas are
located north of Japan – across the Yellow
Sea, south of China and east across the East
China Sea, and south-west of Russia.
In 1950 the North invaded South Korea to
unify the peninsula under the communist
North Korean regime. The war from 1950 to
1953 became a proxy fight for supremacy
between the US and Soviets.
Geography and demographics
South Korea is not big and measures just 200
miles wide and 300 miles long. It’s separated
from its northern neighbour by a 151 mile
long and 2.4-mile-wide demilitarised zone
– known as the DMZ – that was created
following the 1953 ceasefire. Its landmass
is 100,210 km2 compared to 120,540 km2
occupied by North Korea and 242,495 km2
by the UK.
South Korea claims to be the only
legitimate Government for the whole of the
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / December 2023 / PAGE 34