south korea

• country in eastern asia
the republic of korea is a country which occupies the southern portion of the korean peninsula in east asia. the korean peninsula was occupied by japan from 1905 until 1945, when northern korea was occupied by soviet troops and southern korea was occupied by us troops. in 1948 the two areas were formally divided into north korea and south korea. north korean forces crossed the 38th parallel in 1950, beginning the korean war, which ended in 1953. general park chung hee ruled south korea from a military coup in 1961 until his assassination in 1979. kim young sam, of the democratic liberal party (dlp), was elected president in 1992 and took office in 1993. lee yung duk (dlp) was appointed prime minister in 1994. south korea exports electrical goods, transport equipment, and shoes.