South Korea
An East Asian Nation Located on the Southern Half of the Korean
Peninsula
The national flag of South Korea is called a Taegukgi. Each portion of the flag has a separate meaning. The flag field is white representing peace and purity. The circle in the center of the flag symbolizes balance in the universe. The red half represents positive cosmic forces while the blue half represents the opposing negative cosmic forces. The black trigrams represent movement and harmony each trigram represents one of the four classical elements. One understanding could be heaven, earth, moon and sun. Another could be spring, summer, winter and autumn. East, West, North, South is another interpretation as well as justice, vitality, wisdom and fruition. The trigrams always start with 3 lines on the top left then moving in a counter-clock direction 4 lines on the bottom left, 5 lines on the bottom right and finally 6 lines on the top right.
Seoul is the capital of South Korea and the largest metropolis. Currently with a populatin of 9.9 million people, Seoul is considered to be the birthplace of K-Pop and the Korean Wave.
Since the 21st century, South Korea has been renowned for its globally
influential pop culture, particularly in music (K-pop), TV dramas and
cinema, a phenomenon referred to as the
Korean Wave.
The Korean Wave refers to K-Dramas and K-pop that have spread from just
South Korea to other countries. During the initial stages the spread was
to East, Southeast and South Asia but slowly grew Worldwide. K-Dramas
like
Squid Games, Vincenzo, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha show the popularity
of K-Dramas.
The Korean Wave also includes artists, bands, and idol groups. Artists
like BoA and Rain, idol groups like TVXQ, SS501, Super Junior, Big Bang,
Wonder Girls, Girls' Generation were among the first generation of K-Pop
to have success outside of South Korea. Mainly in Japan and other Asian
countries. Songs like "Gangnam Style" by PSY, and groups like BTS and
BlackPink are currently gaining popularity worldwide.