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Ann Hermes / Christian Science Monitor / Getty
Students change classrooms during a break between periods at Seoul Global High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea, on March 28, 2013.
Lee Jae Won / REUTERS
Former North Korean defectors living in South Korea prepare balloons containing snacks called "Choco Pie" and anti-Pyongyang leaflets before releasing them towards the North near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Ganghwa, northwest of Seoul April 24, 2012.
YONHAP / EPA
South Korea President Park Geun-hye receives US Secretary of State John Kerry at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, South Korea, 12 April 2013.
Associated Press
FILE - In this Monday, April 15, 2013 file photo, a South Korean army soldier aims his machine gun during an anti-terrorism drill against possible terrorists' attacks at a subway station in Seoul, South Korea. In his 16 months on the job, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s government has raised fears with unusually aggressive threats against Seoul and Washington, and it’s not clear whether he will be able to pull back, a feat perfected by his late father, considered a master at brinkmanship. The mystery surrounding Kim's intentions has some outsiders predicting nightmare scenarios. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
Associated Press
A South Korean military vehicle passes by gates leading to the North Korean city of Kaesong at the customs, immigration and quarantine office near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Monday, April 8, 2013. A top South Korean national security official said Sunday that North Korea may be setting the stage for a missile test or another provocative act with its warning that it soon will be unable to guarantee diplomats' safety in Pyongyang. But he added that the North's clearest objective is to extract concessions from Washington and Seoul. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Ahn Young-joon / AP
South Korean army soldiers conduct military exercise in Paju, South Korea, near the border village of Panmunjom, April 16, 2013.
Kin Cheung / AP
South Korean rapper PSY performs in Seoul, South Korea Saturday, April 13, 2013.
KCNA/ REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) visits the Wolnae Islet Defence Detachment in the western sector of the front line, which is near Baengnyeong Island of South Korea March 11, 2013 in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang March 12, 2013. South Korea and U.S. forces are conducting large-scale military drills, while the North is also gearing up for a massive military exercise. North Korea has accused the U.S. of using the military drills in the South as a launch pad for a nuclear war and has said to scrap the armistice with the U.S. that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
Associated Press
U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber flies over near Osan U.S. Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 28, 2013. A day after shutting down a key military hotline, Pyongyang instead used indirect communications with Seoul to allow South Koreans to cross the heavily armed border and work at a factory complex that is the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation. (AP Photo/Shin Young-keun, Yonhap)
A1C Daniel Liddicoet / U.S. Air Force
President Obama could order F-22s to South Korea because prior presidents made the investment s needed years ago to ensure he'd have them today.
Yonhap, Shin Jun-hee / AP
South Korea's new President Park Geun-hye waves to supporters while leaving her private residence for her inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013.
Michael Steele / Getty Images
Oscar Pistorius competes in the men's 400 metres heats during day two of the 13th IAAF World Athletics Championships on Aug. 28, 2011 in Daegu, South Korea. His carbon fiber ‘blades’ mimicked the actions of a cheetah. At the 2011 World Championships, Pistorius reached the semi-finals of the 400m and took part in a preliminary round of the 4x400m relay.
Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
South Korea's presidential candidate Park Geun-hye of conservative and right wing ruling Saenuri Party waves to supporters during an election campaign rally in front of a railway station in Busan, South Korea, Dec. 18, 2012.
Lee Jae Won / Reuters
South Korea's new President Park Geun-hye takes the oath of office during her inauguration at the parliament in Seoul on Feb. 25, 2013.
Lee Jin-man / AP
A man looks at the wall paintings of South Korea's President-elect Park Geun-hye of ruling Saenuri Party and national flag at the Korean Civic Education Institute for Democracy in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012.
Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
South Korea's conservative President-elect Park Geun-hye speaks as supporters wave national flags during her election campaign rally in Cheonan on Dec. 17, 2012.
JUNG YEON-JE / AFP / Getty Images
South Korea's president-elect Park Geun-hye from the ruling New Frontier Party shouts her name with members of her election camp in Seoul on Dec. 20, 2012.
Reuters
South Korea President Lee Myung-bak visits a set of remote islands called Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan.
EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP / Getty Images
South Korea's gymnast Yang Hak Seon (C) celebrates with coaches winning gold in the men's vault final of the artistic gymnastics event of the London Olympic Games on August 6, 2012 at the 02 North Greenwich Arena in London.
STAN HONDA / AFP / GETTY
Ban Ki-moon, Foreign Minister of South Korea, at U.N. headquarters in New York. Ban is a candidate for the upcoming election for U.N. Secretary General.
Mothers grieve for their sons killed during a student demonstration, South Korea, 1960.
Mothers grieve for their sons killed during a student demonstration, South Korea, 1960.
Korea Pool / Getty Images
A man walks through the rubble of destroyed houses on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, following artillery exchange between North and South Korea on November 24, 2010.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
Firefighters extinguish a fire at Namdaemun Gate, South Korea's No. 1 national treasure, in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 11, 2008.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
Former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, center, leaves the Seoul Court House after his trial in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 16, 2008. The court convicted Lee on Wednesday for evading taxes and fined him 110 billion won (US$109 million), but said his crimes did not justify a prison term.
KANG CHANG-KWANG / GETTY IMAGES
South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon meets with the press at the Foreign Ministry October 3, 2006 in Seoul, South Korea. According to reports, Ban is considered the likely successor to Kofi Annan as the General Secretary of the United Nation.
Wally Santana / AP
Soldiers prepare a wreath for Japan Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's visit to the graves of 46 South Korea navy sailors killed in the sinking of a warship in March, Saturday, May 29, 2010 in Daejeon City, South Korea
AP / Ahn Young-joon
An unidentified former North Korean defector holds up a placard showing photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, center, his late father Kim Il Sung, left, and his youngest son Kim Jong Un, during a rally against the North's succession in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 8, 2010. The letters on a banner read "We denounce the family's succession through three generations."
LIN JIN-MAN / AP
South Korean Marine LVT-7 landing crafts sail to shores in a smoke screen during a naval fleet review off South Korea's southeastern coast near Busan, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008
Mark Baker / AP
South Korea's Kim Yu-Na performs her free program during the women's figure-skating competition at the Vancouver Olympics on Feb. 25, 2010
Yonhap / Reuters
Smoke rises from South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island after it was hit by artillery shells from North Korea on Nov. 23, 2010
Lee Sang-hack / Yonhap / AP
South Korea's new President Lee Myung-Bak after his inauguration ceremony in Seoul on Feb. 25
KIM KYUNG-HOON / REUTERS
South Korea's stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk leaves his office at the Seoul National University
CHUNG SUNG-JUN—GETTY IMAGES
South Korea’s new army recruits will soon be lulled by a new beat
GETTY IMAGES
South Korea's elections may come down to where each candidate stands on
Kim Jong Il and the North
KCNA / Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un visits a long-range artillery sub-unit of the Korean People's Army Unit 641, whose mission is to strike Baengnyeong Island of South Korea in the western sector of the front line, in a picture released on March 11, 2013.
Lee Jung-hun / ASSOCIATED PRESS
A U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber, left, flies over near Osan U.S. Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, South Korea.
KCNA / Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un visits the Wolnae Islet Defence Detachment in the western sector of the front line, which is near Baengnyeong Island of South Korea, in a picture released on March 11, 2013.
Air Force photo / SrA. Alexis Siekert
Meanwhile, a U.S. Air Force F-16 takes off Monday on the first sortie of a week-long operational readiness exercise at Osan air base, South Korea.
AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, inspecting the Mu Islet Hero Defense Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province, North Korea's southwestern sector of the front, March 7.
KCNA / Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un visits a long-range artillery sub-unit of the Korean People's Army Unit 641, whose mission is to strike Baengnyeong Island of South Korea in the western sector of the front line, in this handout picture released on March 11, 2013.
AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, poses with North Korean troops and their families March 7 at the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province, North Korea.
KCNA / HANDOUT / REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un visits the Wolnae Islet Defence Detachment in the western sector of the front line, which is near Baengnyeong Island of South Korea March 11, 2013.
Air Force photo / Staff Sgt. Nic Raven
U.S. Army troops secure a landing zone for helicopters during a war game in South Korea.
Lee Jin-man / AP
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt speaks to students during a seminar at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 28, 2012.
Yonhap / AP
More than 80,000 people turned out for a free concert thrown by South Korean rapper PSY, in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012.
Charles Dharapak / AP
President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea gives a thumbs up to President Barack Obama as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Toronto, Saturday, June 26, 2010.
Jeff Haynes / Reuters
Golfer Y.E. Yang of South Korea celebrates his victory of the 2009 PGA Championship on Aug. 16, 2009
CHOO YOUN-KONG / AFP / Getty Images
PANMUNJOM, SOUTH KOREA: A North Korean soldier looks South
JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP
South Korea's Ahn Jung Hwan celebrates his goal by doing a 'speed-skater' dance
JIMIN LAI/AFP
South Korea players celebrate their upset over Italy
EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP
South Korea's Chul (L) is congratulated by teammates after his second goal
Ahn Young-joon / AP
South Korean marines patrol along on Yeonpyeong island, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010
KIM JAE-HWANAFP / GETTY IMAGES
ON GUARD: South Korea plans to deploy battle-ready 'bots like this one on the DMZ
Charles Oki / U.S. Navy / Getty Images
The aircraft carrier U.S.S. George Washington arrives in Pusan, South Korea, to take part in joint military exercises east of the Korean peninsula starting July 25, 2010
Photograph by Jean Chung for TIME
Hitting the books Andrew Kim, who teaches English at a Seoul cram school, believes South Korea's educational system isn't quite right
Ahn Young-joon / AP
Korea Development Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea
JEON HEON-KYUN / EPA
Japanese tourists shop for cosmetics in Seoul, South Korea on February 5, 2009
PRESIDENTIAL HOUSE-YONHAP/AP
Roh Moo Hyun: South Korea's impeached President
AFP / Getty
Cho Seung-Hui, a student from South Korea who was identified as the gunman who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech University, in a police handout photo.
Jo Yong-Hak / Reuters
Former North Korean defectors and anti-North Korea activists in Paju, South Korea, release balloons carrying anti-North Korea leaflets, CDs, radios and U.S. dollars towards the north on May 1, 2010
KI HO PARK/KISTONE FOR TIME
Roh Moo Hyun, South Korea's President-elect, is taking on a tough job
YONHAP / EPA
Members of a civic group advocating the abolition of asbestos in South Korea collect soil samples from the playground of Susan Elementary School on Feb. 12, 2009
Yang Hyun-suk / Yonhap / AP
South Korean Army soldiers patrol at sunset in Dangjin, south of Seoul, South Korea
BHARAT SIKKA FOR TIME
Shining Example: Downtown Ulsan, South Korea, sprang up over a generation of dizzying growth
PHOTOGRAPH FOR TIME BY KI HO PARK / KISTONE
Chung Mong Koo, chairman of South Korea's Hyundai Motor
Chung Sung-Jun / Getty
An employee of McDonald's serves a meal in Seoul, South Korea.
Yang Hyun-suk / Yonhap / AP
South Korean Army soldiers patrol near the seaside in Dangjin, south of Seoul, South Korea on Dec. 22, 2010
Firdia Lisnawati / AP
Finance ministers, from left, China's Xie Xuren, South Korea's Yoon Jeung-hyun and Japan's Kaoru Yosano, pose together during their meeting at the annual Asian Development Bank.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
A South Korean woman walks by a service center of Kia Motors in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 7, 2010
youtube.com
SING ALONG, YOU ALL KNOW THE WORDS: South Korea's World Cup anthem is wowing visitors to youtube.com
Choi Jae-Ho / AFP / Getty Images
The U.S.S. Ohio, a guided-missile submarine, moors at a harbor in Pusan, South Korea, on Feb. 21, 2008
Jo Yong-Hak / Reuters
Opposition candidate Lee Myung Bak speaks to supporters in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 3
Yonhap, Shin Young-gun / AP
South Korean Navy patrol boats engage in an exercise in the West Sea, South Korea in this June 15, 2009 photo
Ahn Young-joon / AP
Police raided civic groups that have led weeks of street rallies against South Korea's resumption of US beef imports
Ahn Young-joon / AP
A passenger train pulls into Dora Station, the last train stop in South Korea outside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the day before North Korea enforced stricter border controls on Dec. 1, 2008
Woo Hae Cho / The New York Times
South Korean employees visit the border of the demilitarized zone, in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on a company-sponsored trip on June 2, 2009
Jason Reed / Reuters
Gold medallist Michael Phelps, right, of the United States celebrates with South Korea's silver medallist Park Tae-hwan after the men's 200m freestyle swimming final on August 12
COURTESY OF KOREA PICTURES
The superhit "Friends" tapped a vein of nostalgia in South Korea
STUART ISETT/GAMMA FOR TIME
The Tongduchon strip near Camp Casey, a U.S. military site in South Korea
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gestures as he speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon, Friday, May 17, 2013, to discuss sexual assaults in the military and the promotion of Lt. Gen. Curtis "Mike" Scaparrotti to command U.S. troops in South Korea, among other topics.
US Navy Specialist 1st Class Michael D. Cole
USS Nimitz and USS Preble, top, in the East China Sea, May 15. News blackout demanded by South Korea kept Japanese warships out of the photo, if not the picture.
Im Hun-jung / AP
In this photo taken on Dec. 13, 2012, a National Intelligence Service agent covered her face with a mask sits in front of her computers as officers from police and national election commission visit her to collect evidence from her computers at her home in Seoul, South Korea.
Not originally published in LIFE. Scene during a rebellion in South Korea, 1948.
Not originally published in LIFE. Scene during a rebellion in South Korea, 1948.
Not originally published in LIFE. Scene during a communist uprising, South Korea, 1948.
Not originally published in LIFE. Scene during a communist uprising, South Korea, 1948.
Army photo / SSG Michael Zuk
Soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division provide security while moving to a suspected Weapons of Mass Destruction facility during a 2011 Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical exercise at Camp Stanley, South Korea.
Lee Jin-man / AP
A South Korean protester wearing a mask of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry poses for the media during a rally denouncing the military exercises and demanding Kerry to go to North Korea for peace talks near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 12, 2013.
Lee Jin-man / AP
A North Korean soldier stands at their military guard post near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, April 7, 2013.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
South Korean vehicles turn back their way as they were refused for entry to North Korea's city of Kaesong, at the customs, immigration and quarantine office in Paju, South Korea, near the border village of Panmunjom, Apr. 3, 2013.
Jean Chung / International Herald Tribune / Redux
Lee Geum-sook, a volunteer for elderly people, right, tries to comfort Yoon Jeom-do, an 89-year-old elderly woman who lives alone in an apartment in Nowon district in Seoul, as she sheds tears, South Korea, Oct, 18, 2012.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
Australian actress Mia Wasikowska, left, and South Korean director Park Chan-wook wave for photographers during a press conference to promote their latest film "Stoker" in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013.
AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS
This picture, taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 7, 2013 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) inspecting the Mu Islet Hero Defence Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province, North Korea's southwestern sector of the front.
LEE JIN-MAN / AP
South Korean protesters burn the pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during an anti-North Korea rally following a nuclear test conducted by North Korea, in Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 12.
Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Not originally published in LIFE. Refugees cross into South Korea, March, 1951.
Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images
Psy performs onstage during the 17th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) at the Lotte Hotel on October 6, 2012 in Busan, South Korea.
Lee Jin-man / AP
Park Geun-hye, center, of the ruling Saenuri Party speaks to the media after she cast her ballot for presidential election at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
Kosik, a male Asian elephant, puts his trunk in his mouth to make sounds at the Everland amusement park in Yongin, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 2, 2012.
REUTERS/South Korea's Defence Ministry/Handout
A piece of the wreckage of North Korea's Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket is seen being pulled up by the South Korean navy, in this undated image released by South Korea's Defence Ministry in Seoul on Dec. 28, 2012.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
North Korean defector Park Sang-hak hurls anti-North Korea leaflets as police block his planned rally on a road in Paju near demilitarized zone, South Korea, Oct. 22, 2012.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S III, right, and Apple's iPhone 4S are displayed at a mobile phone shop in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 24, 2012.
AP / Ahn Young-joon
A South Korean army soldier watches South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at a panel debate in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Photo Essays
A House Divided: Photos From Korea’s 1948 Yeosu-Suncheon Rebellion
A few years before the Korean Peninsula erupted in the civil war that saw the North and the South (and the U.S. and China) engaged in a conflict that would help...
LIFE in Korea: Rare Photos From the ‘Forgotten War’
In Korea, it’s known as the “6-2-5 (yug ee oh) War,” a reference to June 25, 1950, when the North Korean People’s Army invaded the South. Among North Koreans,...
