South Korea is located on the eastern coast of Asia, it is the southern half of the Korean peninsula. It is officially known as the Republic of Korea. The population is approximately 47 million people, almost entirely Korean with a miniscule percentage of cultural or racial diversity. Seoul is the capital, it is divided by the Han River. There are a total of 17 bridges that pass over the Han River within Seoul. It is also the 5th largest city in the world. The city is notorious for its traffic problems. .
Recently, I visited my family in the northwest outskirt of Seoul, which is my reason for choosing this topic. My family emigrated to the United States, in New York City, when I was five years old and it was my first time returning to Korea since. My extended family is quite large, my mother is the middle child of five and my father is the middle child of six. Each of my aunts and uncles are all married with at least one child, so during my visit I had plenty of tour guides to show me around. Hopefully, my perspective as a Korean-American will provide a slightly better understanding and insight in the Korean travel experience.
History.
There is an old folklore that I remember from childhood, of how the Korean people came into being. A bear and a tiger wished to be human and prayed to the celestial god. The god gave them a bundle of mugworts and 20 cloves of garlic each and told them not to eat anything else. They were told to remain in a cave for 100 days and their wish would be granted. The tiger did not follow the instructions and remained a tiger. The bear obeyed, and was transformed into a woman. The bear was unable to find a husband but the god found her beautiful and married her and Tan'gun the first Korean was born. .
The actual history dates back somewhere from 7000 to 3000 B.C. The area around Seoul began to expand during the Three Kingdoms Period in which the Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla reigned.