My Culture

COUNTRY RESEARCH – SOUTH  KOREA

Capital: Seoul

Population:48,846,823

FESTIVALS

Seollal (설날) is one of the biggest holidays in Korea along with Chuseok (also known as the Korean Thanksgiving day). Seollal is the New Year’s Day in lunar calendar. The word “seol(설)” is originated from the word 'natseolda(낯설다)' which means unfamiliar, implying newness of a new coming year. It is unknown when Koreans began celebrating Seollal, but rituals of the festival are estimated to go back to the 6th century. On Seollal, Koreans demonstrate their respect to parents and elders in the family, as well as deceased ancestors through Sebae (세배), New Year’s Bow and Charye (차례), an ancestral ritual. Also, elders give money or present to a person who did Sebae in return of showing their respect. Koreans almost always wear Hanbok (한복), on this day and eat Tteokguk (떡국) and Yakwa (약과) in addition to playing a traditional game like Yutnori (윷놀이).

Hanbok:

FAMOUS SOCCER PLAYER

Park Ji-Sung:

Park Ji-Sung (박지성) born 25 February 1981 is a South Korean footballer who plays as a midfielder for English club Queens Park Rangers, for whom he serves as captain. He was also the captain of the South Korean national team until his retirement from international football. He is the most decorated Asian footballer in history, as the first Asian player to have won the Champions League trophy and the first Asian to have played in a final of the UEFA Champions League. Park is able to play anywhere across the midfield and is noted for his exceptional fitness level, discipline, work ethic and off-the-ball movement.
Park began his football career in his native South Korea and played for the Myongji University team before moving to Japan to play for Kyoto Purple Sanga. After Park's national team manager Guus Hiddink moved back to the Netherlands to manage PSV Eindhoven, Park followed him to the Dutch side a year later. After PSV reached the semi-finals of the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League, Park's talents were recognised by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and he signed Park for a fee of around £4 million in July 2005. In his time at Manchester United, Park won the Premier League four times and also won the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League and the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. He moved to Queens Park Rangers in July 2012 after suffering a reduction in his number of appearances for Manchester United the previous season.

As a member of the South Korean national team, Park won 100 caps and scored 13 goals, was a member of the team that finished fourth at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He also represented his nation at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and was captain at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Park scored in all three consecutive tournaments (the first South Korean and only second Asian player to do so) and is currently Asia's joint all-time leading goalscorer at the FIFA World Cup finals with three goals, alongside compatriot Ahn Jung-Hwan, and Saudi Arabia's Sami Al-Jaber. After the 2011 Asian Cup, on 31 January 2011, Park announced that he was retiring from international football at a press conference held by the Korea Football Association in Seoul.

AFTER SCHOOL

Hagwon (학원)is the Korean-language word for a for-profit private institute, academy or cram-school prevalent in South Korea. The term is also sometimes used to describe similar institutions operated by Korean Americans in the United States

Children of all ages often attend hagwons, even those in the pre-school age bracket. It is not uncommon for students to be enrolled in several hagwon of different subject areas at once in addition to their normal school attendance. Hagwons often specialize in subjects like mathematics, foreign languages, science, arts, or music. Many hagwons also have adults as students, particularly those dedicated to teaching the English language.

While some see hagwons as filling a need not being adequately met by the public school system, others see them as creating an unequal footing between the poor and rich in Korea.

In 2008 it was reported that there were over 70,000 hagwons in South Korea with 47 percent of them focused on high school enrollment.