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Culture Paper: South Korea

The Korean peninsula has been inhabited for roughly 40,000 years. Many significant events throughout Korea’s history have played important roles in shaping Korea’s culture into what it is today. The name Korea originally rooted from “Koryo,” which was the succeeding dynasty in 918-1392 after the Tongil Silla period (period in which the peninsula was unified). Korea was imposed by Japanese colonial rule and finally liberated at the end of World War II in 1945. Following the end of the war, Korea faced an internal battle, resulting in the division of the country into two parts: the north, which is the People’s Republic of Korea backed by powerful communist allies such as China and Russia, and the south, which …show more content…

In addition, jobs requiring a higher education degree and intensive training such as service providers (doctors, nurses, teachers, therapists) are often very well respected and trusted as primary decision makers. Lay people are expected to how respect with distinctively addressing elders and people of higher status by their age/job titles, refraining form ever using personal names. This is exemplified through important non-verbal communication patterns such as bowing when greeting someone older than you and holding an object with both hands when handing something over to an elder person (Stone, 2005). Generally speaking, physical contact is often viewed as uncomfortable amongst strangers, in contrast to other cultures where something as personal as cheek kissing is highly accepted (Brones, 2008). In addition, Koreans consider direct eye contact impolite until a sense of comfort is established between the involved parties. This is also applicable to the Chinese culture, the Korean culture involves more direct means of greeting elders such as bowing as opposed to looking towards the ground while formally shaking his/her hands (Guillain, 2008). Despite these subtle differences and potential conflict of interest, the Chinese culture is

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