South Korea

American  

[south kuh-ree-uh, kaw-, koh-] / ˈsaʊθ kəˈri ə, kɔ-, koʊ- /

noun

1. Official Name Republic of Korea.  a country in East Asia: formed 1948 after the division of the former country of Korea at the 38th parallel. 36,600 sq. mi. (94,795 sq. km). Seoul.

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South Korea British  

noun

1. Korean name: Hanguk.  a republic in NE Asia: established as a republic in 1948; invaded by North Korea and Chinese Communists in 1950 but division remained unchanged at the end of the war (1953); includes over 3000 islands; rapid industrialization. Language: Korean. Religions: Buddhist, Confucianist, Shamanist, and Chondokyo. Currency: won. Capital: Seoul. Pop: 48 955 203 (2013 est). Area: 98 477 sq km (38 022 sq miles)

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South Korea Cultural  

1. Officially the Republic of Korea; located on the peninsula separating the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, two arms of the Pacific Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Seoul.

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Discover More

During the 1980s, South Korea became a major industrial power in Asia.

Supported by the United States, South Korea was created in 1948 after American and Soviet occupation zones established at the end of World War II had divided Korea into north and south.

During the Korean War, noncommunist South Korea, aided by forces of the United Nations, and communist North Korea, aided by Chinese forces, fought from 1950 to 1953.

Other Word Forms

• South Korean adjective

Example Sentences

South Korea secured 24 million barrels of crude from the UAE and will receive 273 million barrels from other nations by year-end.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

SK Hynix began construction on a nearly $13 billion advanced packaging plant in South Korea, expected to start operations by February 2028.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

China, India, Japan and South Korea were the top destinations.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026

Ahead of its earnings report, SK Hynix said it would invest an additional 19 trillion won to build a new advanced chip-packaging plant in Cheongju, South Korea, with construction set to begin this month.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

Before Lee, South Korea took almost exactly the opposite approach.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden