Culture

South Korea shares its traditional culture with North Korea, but the two Koreas have developed distinct contemporary forms of culture since the peninsula was divided in 1945. The South Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism actively encourages the traditional arts, as well as modern forms, through funding and education programs.

The contemporary culture of South Korea is heavily dominated by technology, including feature-rich cell phones and pervasive online gaming. South Korea today has the highest penetration of high-speed Internet access to households in the world. South Korea's entertainment industry has grown substantially since the 1990s, producing Asia-wide successes in music, television and film in a phenomenon known as the "Korean wave". However, the country still retains centuries-old customs and traditions, such as its unique cuisine and ancestor worship.

Sports

Taekwondo, a popular martial art, originated in Korea. It became standard military training in South Korea, and in 1961 the rules were standardised and taekwondo became an official Olympic sport in 2000. Taekwondo in the military is an integral part in the Korean land forces. Other Korean martial arts include hapkido and taekkyeon.

Baseball was first introduced to Korea in 1905 and has since become the most popular spectator sport in South Korea. Other popular sports in South Korea include basketball, football, tennis, golf and ice hockey. South Korea's Olympic teams have also traditionally performed strongly in Archery, Shooting, Badminton, Table Tennis, Fencing, Weightlifting, Boxing, Judo, Short track speed skating, Taekwondo, Wrestling as well as Handball and Field Hockey.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup was jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan, and South Korea became the first Asian team to reach the semi-finals. The Korea Republic national football team, also known as the "Taeguk Warriors", qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany for their sixth consecutive World Cup.