Bukchon is an example of what type of traditional hamlet, many of which may be found across South Korea?
Taketomi village
Heritage village
Hanok village
Hutong village
Hanok village
Hanok villages, which are beautifully maintained old settlements, can be found all across Korea. Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul is one of the most popular. Traditional Korean residences and neighborhoods from 600 years ago can be found intact, repaired, or reconstructed.
What politician and educator led the Korean Independence Movement from Japan under the pen name Baekbeom?
Kim San Sun
Hwoarang
Park Hua Shing Ton
Kim Gu
Kim Gu
Kim Gu, one of Korea’s “Founding Fathers,” was a key figure in the Independence Movement and the Korean reunification. He was the final president of the Republic of Korea’s provisional administration and was killed by Ahn Doo-hee, who perceived him as a Soviet Union spy. “If God asked me what my want was, I would unhesitatingly say, ‘Korean independence.’ If he asked me what my second wish was, I would again reply, ‘My country’s independence.”
What respected 15th century Korean scientist invented the world’s first rain gauge and is commemorated by an asteroid?
Jang Young-Sil
Cha Hyung Joon
Paik Soonmyung
Yu Nam-Kyung
Jang Young-Sil
Jang Young-Sil devised the “cheugugi” as the world’s first rain gauge. An astronomical clock, a celestial globe, a hemispherical sundial, an observatory, and an automated water clock were also invented by the 15th-century inventor. He appears to be from another planet — little surprise a celestial body was named after him.
What is the government’s Historical and Scenic Site Number One, one of the most important temples in the country?
Tongdosa Temple
Balaka Temple
Bulguksa Temple
Hanging Temple
Bulguksa Temple
Bulguksa Temple is one of the country’s most beautiful Buddhist temples, including seven national treasures. Among these treasures are Buddha sculptures, stone pagodas, and the Blue Cloud Bridge.
What Yellow Sea island is named for the “crimson” glow that wraps it at sunset?
Hongdo
Geojedo
Jeju
Hengde
Hongdo
The rocky island of Hongdo is well-known for stunning sunsets. The name “Hong” means “crimson” in Korean, emphasizing the lovely light that shines on the island’s hilly 2.5 square miles.
Who founded Korea’s Joseon dynasty, which lasted for 500 years, and was born in 1335?
Mokjong
Taejo
Jeongjong
Hyeonjong
Taejo
Taejo of Joseon, not to be confused with Taejo of Goryeo, destroyed the Goryeo Dynasty and assumed power in the late 14th century. After assuming the throne as Yi Seong-gye and “Yi Dan,” he only reigned for six years after rising through the ranks of the Goryeo army.
At 6,388 feet, you’re on top of the world – or, at the very least, South Korea. What is the highest peak in the country?
Hallasan
Seoraksan
Chiri-san
Everest
Hallasan
Hallasan, located on Jeju Island, is South Korea’s tallest peak at 6,388 feet. It’s a volcano, and it’s one of the country’s three main mountains, along with Seoraksan and Jirisan.
“Body and soul, let’s go / transformed into arrows!” “Piercing the air / body and spirit, let’s go / with no turning back,” who is one of Korea’s best living authors and the author of Ten Thousand Lives?
Han Kang
Yi Sang
Bok Geo-il
Ko Un
Ko Un
After witnessing the horrors of the Korean War, Hwang Sok-yong entered a Buddhist monastery and released his first book of poems. Following that, he helped to push the democratic movement and was imprisoned for years, during which time he authored many additional collections of poetry. Ten Thousand Lives and The Sound of My Waves are two of his masterpieces.
Name the actress/singer/songwriter known for songs like “Celebrity” and “Blueming” who has five studio albums to her credit.
Son Ye-jin
Song Hye-kyo
Kim Tae-hee
IU
IU
Born Lee Ji-eun, the singer-name songwriter’s is meant to represent “you and I become one through music,” and she is frequently referred to as “The Nation’s Sweetheart.”
What is the name of the marathon racer who collapsed on the track after winning gold in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona?
Yoo Gwan-Soon
Hwang Young-cho
Shang Luk Fo
Lee Min-ho
Hwang Young-cho
Despite the fact that it was the “slowest Olympic marathon” in about three decades due to the heat in Barcelona and the ascent for the final two kilometers, Hwang Young-performance cho’s of 2 hours 13 minutes and 23 seconds was not to be overlooked. After sinking to his knees and face-planting on the track, the South Korean won gold for his country and was taken out on a stretcher.
The United States’ 50 states, including Hawaii, cover six time zones. In South Korea, how many time zones are there?
1
2
3
40
1
South Korea is about the same size as the state of Utah and has no territories lying outside of its single time zone, so the entire country falls under the umbrella of Korea Standard Time. For reference, when it’s 8 AM in NYC, it’s 9 PM the same day in Seoul.
Who is supposed to be the “grandson of heaven,” as well as the founder and god-king of Gojoseon, Korea’s first kingdom?
Katherine the Great
Yuri
Dangun
Daemusin
Dangun
Dangun is the fabled founder of Korea’s first kingdom. His rule was first mentioned in the 13th century, after he was founded in 2333 BC, and numerous religious groups worship him. True Korean scholars understand that Dangun is an abbreviation for Dangun Wanggeom.
The biggest national park in South Korea, made up of many islands. It was established in 1981. What is the name of this national park?
Dadohaehaesang
Yosemite
Jirisan
Hallasan
Dadohaehaesang
The country’s largest national park is Dadohaehaesang and it is located in Jeollanam-do province. The park measures 896 square miles and includes the islands of Baekdo, Hongdo, and Heuksando. The marine park is home to 150 ocean fish species, 140 bird species, and 1,500 plant species.
Every year, a special mud from South Korea’s mudflats is carried onto this beach in Boryeong for a down and dirty celebration. What is the name of the beach?
Daecheon Beach
Bondi Beach
Muchangpo Beach
Haeundae Beach
Daecheon Beach
During the annual Boryeong Muck Festival, get your mud on at Daecheon Beach. Prepare to mud wrestle, mud ski, and get pelted with mud. The event started with the goal of promoting cosmetics created from the mud of the Boryeong mud flats, which has unique mineral properties.
Name this seven-member boyband that has taken the globe by storm with mega-hits like “IDOL” and “FAKE LOVE.”
Stray Kids
BTS
Monsta X
NCT
BTS
The seven-person band is one of the most popular in the world, often selling out stadiums in their own nation as well as the United States and Europe. Many of their admirers believe they are “Dynamite.”
Kim Bu-sik, a politician and Confucian, composed the Samguk Sagi in the 12th century. What exactly is the text about?
The King James Bible
Historical record of the Three Kingdoms
Koran
First scholarly Buddhist record
Historical record of the Three Kingdoms
The Samguk Sagi is the Korean History of the Three Kingdoms. The significant historical record was finished in the 12th century and written in Classical Chinese by government official Kim Busik.
What is the name of Korea’s first national park, which has the “Temple of 100 Pools” and is renowned as the “Yosemite of Korea”?
Glacier National Park
Songnisan National Park
Bukhansan National Park
Seoraksan National Park
Seoraksan National Park
A spectacular scenery of mountains, waterfalls, lakes, and streams, as well as over 1,500 animal species and abundant vegetation. Hike the trails and explore the park’s two Buddhist temples, including the Temple of a Hundred Pools, so named for its numerous ponds and streams.
South Korea, its sole immediate neighbor, plainly borders North Korea. What other country has the closest center point to South Korea?
Cuba
The Philippines
Japan
Russia
Japan
Aside from North Korea, Japan is the closest nation to South Korea, located roughly 600 miles distant in its center. To travel to its nearest neighbors, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao, you must travel more than 935 miles.
In 2021, who will be South Korea’s acting prime minister who declares, “I will become a prime minister who completely aspires for national unity”?
Han Seung-soo
Goh Kun
Jo Huan Jo
Kim Boo-kyum
Kim Boo-kyum
In May 2021, Kim Boo-kyum was elected Prime Minister. The activist is a member of South Korea’s Democratic Party and was formerly Minister of Interior and Safety.
South Korea’s capital is located on the fourth-longest river on the Korean peninsula.
Geum River
Imjin River
Han River
Yangtze River
Han River
Seoul is situated on the Han River, which runs for 307 miles. The Han connects the capital city to the Yellow Sea by passing through three provinces. The Amnok, Tuman, and Nakdong rivers are the longest.
What 8-member electro-pop band is known as the “Nation’s Girl Group” after releasing songs like “I GOT A BOY” and “PARTY”?
Girls’ Generation
Twice
Black Pink
Wonder Girls
Girls’ Generation
Girls’ Generation is the unofficial national group of South Korea. CNN called them a “national sensation” and the “Asian counterpart” of the British female group Spice Girls.
From 2007 to 2016, which United Nations Secretary-General stated, “Saving our planet needs you to be ambitious in what you aspire for, as well as equally ambitious in how hard you work to achieve your goal”?
Ban Ki-Moon
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Shin Kyung-sook
Kofi Annan
Ban Ki-Moon
Ban Ki-Moon began his career as a diplomat for his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a vocation he was motivated to pursue after meeting JFK when he was 18 years old. After taking over as Secretary-General in 2007, he stepped down in 2016, having launched a number of peacekeeping programs and plans to improve the effectiveness of the “blue helmets” in conflict zones across the world.
What Korean director of Parasite tied Walt Disney for the most Academy Awards won in one night in 2020?
Bong Joon-ho
Song Hye Kyo
Hong Sangsong
Park Jinri
Bong Joon-ho
For his film, Parasite, Bong Joon-ho joined Walt Disney as the first filmmaker to win four awards in one night. He received honors for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, and Best Picture, making it the first foreign film to do so. “We never write to represent our nation,” he remarked, “but this is our first Oscar to South Korea.”
What sage and philosopher founded Neo-Confucianism, writing under the pen name Toegye – meaning “Retreating Creek”?
Ko Un
Yi Hwang
Yi Sang
Yi Kwang-su
Yi Hwang
Yi Hwang was a Joseon period Neo-Confucist who went by the pen name “Retreating Creek.” The sage taught that I and gi were the universe’s driving forces. “The ancients do not see me, nor do I see the ancients, though I do not see the ancients, the Way they tread is before me, Their Way before me, can I but follow,” he once wrote.
Not everyone can boast of being both a king and an emperor. Who was Korea’s last king and first emperor?
Mak Anto-nyo
Sunjong
Gojong
Sunjo
Gojong
The Gwangmu Emperor Gojong was the last of the Joseon Dynasty’s five-century line, reigning until the early twentieth century. As his rule came to an end, he declared the country an empire, crowning him the first emperor of Korea — a short-lived imperial authority that ended in 1910. The empire was never resurrected.
Everyone appears to have an issue with Korea. In the nineteenth century, two MORE nations conducted campaigns in Korea. What are the names of the countries?
United States and France
Spain and Russia
United Kingdom and Germany
Cuba and the United Kingdom
United States and France
Korea was once again the target of foreign forces when the French and the United States launched wars against the country in the nineteenth century. The French Campaign, which lasted six weeks in 1866, was in retribution for the killing of French Catholic missionaries. The United States expedition to Korea in 1871 was similarly advertised as a retaliatory campaign for the disappearance of a merchant ship in Korean seas, but some documents reveal it was actually a military effort designed to demonstrate American supremacy.
What South Korean leader’s tenure ended in political turmoil with her impeachment as the country’s first female president?
Song He Kyo
Park Geun-hye
Park Jin-ri
Kim Yo-jong
Park Geun-hye
Riding on the coattails of her father, who was also president at the time, Park Geun-hye’s political career ended in humiliation in 2016, when she was impeached and imprisoned for her participation in theft and vote influence. She was the first female president democratically elected in East Asia, and the first president born after the establishment of the First Republic of Korea.
What is the name of the artist known for his ballpoint pen artwork, and whose works have been described as “deceptively casual” by The New York Times?
Lee Ufan
Ban Ksy
Il Lee
Heo Jun
Il Lee
Who thought a ballpoint pen was all you needed to make a masterpiece? Il Lee is a contemporary artist who makes large-scale abstract artworks on canvas and paper that have been presented all over the world, including New York, Paris, and Seoul.
What is the most populous province or territory in South Korea, defined as “the area around the capital”?
Gangwon
Jeju
Gyeonggi
North Chengchong
Gyeonggi
Gyeonggi province is the most populous, with 3,927 square miles and home to 13.3 million people. Sejong has the lowest population, with only 340,000 people.
In 1948, who became South Korea’s first prime minister?
Lee Beom-seok
Kim Sang-song
Du Ter-te
Lee Nak-yon
Lee Beom-seok
Lee Beom-seok, an independence campaigner, was South Korea’s first prime minister, serving for barely two years beginning in 1948. Beom-seok, better known as “Chulgi,” was the president of the Korean National Youth Association.
Korea’s past is littered with neighbors conquering its territory. In the 16th and 17th centuries, which two countries attacked Korea?
Japan and China
Mongolia and Japan
China and Mongolia
France and Spain
Japan and China
In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Japan and China were at odds over the Korean peninsula. Japan under Toyotomi Hideyoshi attacked first in 1592, but was defeated. The Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China invaded Korea in 1627 and again in 1636, resulting in Korea becoming a vassal state of the Qing dynasty.
This landmark on the top of Mount Namsan is to South Korea what the “Space Needle” is to Seattle. What is it?
Oriental Pearl Tower
Seoul Space Needle
Seoul Tower
SK Tower
Seoul Tower
The Seoul Tower serves as both a communication and observation tower. You may ride a cable car from the city up to the base of the tower, where you will stand at the city’s second-highest point. The renowned observation tower rises 774 feet, providing a bird’s-eye view of the whole metropolis.
With a name meaning “an island where a divine fairy came down and danced, ” which island appears to part like the Red Sea, leading a path to the neighboring island of Mok?
Seonjaedo
Maui
Gapado
Jukdo
Seonjaedo
The country’s largest national park, located in Jeollanam-do province, measures 896 square miles and includes the islands of Baekdo, Hongdo, and Heuksando. The marine park is home to 150 ocean fish species, 140 bird species, and 1,500 plant species.
Japan surrendered during WWII, thereby ending its claim to Korea. What proclamation restored Korea’s independence?
Treaty of Paris
Emancipation Proclamation
Potsdam Declaration
Treaty of South Korea
Potsdam Declaration
Following the surrender of the Japanese Empire in 1945, the Postdam Declaration outlined the next steps. The proclamation, drafted by Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, and Chiang Kai-shek, re-established Korea’s independence. It also demanded the empire’s submission, threatening “rapid and total devastation” if they didn’t.
This rainbow city is noted for its colorful buildings, bustling harbor, beaches, mountains, and temples. What is the name of that South Korean port town?
Busan
Daegu
Jeju
Ulsan
Busan
With 3.4 million residents, Busan is South Korea’s second-largest metropolis after Seoul. The popular tourist and industrial city is known for its wooded mountains, attractive beaches, historical landmarks, hot springs, and its world-famous port.
“The people are the roots of a nation, and the roots must be strong in order to produce a peaceful nation.” Who created the Korean alphabet?
Jang Tak-Sil
King Sejong the Great
King Taejong
King Hyegong
King Sejong the Great
Monarch Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty, assumed power in the late 14th century. He not only invented the Korean alphabet, but his attitude to everything during his reign was founded on his compassion for ordinary people.
What country was the Koreans at war with three times during the late 10th and early 11th centuries?
Ukraine
France
Russia
China
China
The first of three Goryeo-Khitan Wars took place in 993 AD between China’s Liao dynasty and Korea. Khitan’s ambition was to conquer the Korean Peninsula, and two more would follow. That objective was a failure. But it didn’t stop Khitan from trying again and again for many years, all of which failed.
Which South Korean figure skater was the first to earn a gold medal for the country after saying, “I sincerely hope that when I depart, my last trace will be beautiful”?
Yuna Kim
Choi Gyeong-hui
Jeong Mi-ja
Lee Yeon-kyung
Yuna Kim
Yuna Kim, a girl next door ice skater, was once one of the world’s highest-earning female athletes. She became the first person from her country to win a medal in a figure skating discipline when she won gold in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
How many provinces would you have visited if you took a road trip through South Korea and visited every province?
17
9
24
6
9
South Korea is divided into nine provinces, the largest of which is North Kyngsang (7,348 square miles). Jeju, one of the provinces, is a self-governing province.
This founding father’s dynasty was responsible for the name Korea. Who established the Goryeo dynasty?
Taemusin
Mobo
Taejo
Puyi
Taejo
The name Korea is derived from the Goguryeo kingdom, which was afterwards renamed Goryeo. Taejo of Goryeo established the dynasty, which ruled from the tenth through the fourteenth century. Taejo was successful in uniting the Later Three Kingdoms.
Oh no! You don’t know anything about South Korea.
Close. But not enough. Would you like to try again?
Congratulations! You know your South Korean geography too well.
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