Introduction

This chapter provides rudimentary information regarding Korea's historical background, geographical and geopolitical environment, and political culture in a succinct manner. According to Korea's founding myth, Korean history dates back to 2333 bc when Korea's first kingdom, Gojoson, was established by Tan'gun, who had been born from a bear-turned-woman and the god Hwanung. Located in the middle of Northeast Asia, the Korean Peninsula covers about 85,000 square miles, which is slightly smaller than the size of New York and Pennsylvania combined. The interplay of the following four factors has had a big impact on the formation of Korean political culture. They are Confucianism, Japanese colonial rule, the Korean War and rapid modernization process. Political culture in Korea largely has three distinctive characteristics: communitarian identity, authoritarian value, and factionalism. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.