ABSTRACT
The geographical position of Korea can be defined with reference to the concept of a "buffer state," an idea that provides a most useful framework to help explain the situation in which Korea and a number of other nations find themselves. Korea's location has been the most important determinant factor in the creation of the international system surrounding the peninsula. The Koreans had a long tradition of receiving much from Chinese culture, and the influence created a certain traditional weight or pressure in Korean minds. Korea has never been neutralized by the guarantees of large powers; the nation remained in a neutral or a semi-neutral position throughout most of its history. During the period of Ancient Korea, which ended in the first century B.C. after at least 800 years of existence, the Koreans went through, as happened in the Ancient Middle East, Ancient Greece, and many other places, the process of the formulation of an early political system.
