North and South Korea -- Page 5

Resources {All of Korea}

Korea is well endowed with mineral resources, including large deposits of coal, iron ore, copper, gold, silver, and tungsten. The political division of Korea left most coal and metals, as well as most of the commercial forests and hydroelectric power resources, in North Korea. South Korea, on the other hand, possesses the best agricultural land and a large labor force.

People {All of Korea}

Koreans are an ethnically homogenous Mongoloid people who have shared a common history, language, and culture since at least the 7th century AD, when the peninsula was first unified. The official language of both North and South is Korean, which is believed to have developed from a Tungusic base thousands of years ago. The Korean alphabet, called hangul, was developed during the 15th century and is believed to have been the first phonetic alphabet in East Asia. Many words used today have been borrowed from the Chinese and Japanese languages.

North Korea officially adheres to Marxism and Juche ("self-reliance") as the national ideology, and organized religion is reportedly suppressed. The majority of South Koreans profess (as did most North Koreans, until the Communists came to power) Buddhism and Confucianism, the latter of which was Korea's official religion from the 14th to the early 20th century. About 28% of South Koreans are Christians. Also important are shamanism, a widely practiced belief in natural spirits, and the strongly nationalistic religion known as Chundo Kyo (Tonghak before 1905), which was founded in the 19th century and combines elements of Confucianism, Daoism (Taoism), and Buddhism.