What do you know about South Korea? We've collected some interesting facts for you to enjoy with the kids, and if you scroll to the bottom of the page you will find our South Korea flag printables and flag colouring page, too.
The city of Seoul, capital of South Korea, at night
A little about South Korea:
- South Korea, or the Republic of Korea, is in East Asia. It occupies the southern half of the Korean Peninsula, below North Korea.
- Japan is to the south-east across the East Sea, and China lies across the Yellow Sea to the south-west.
- The border with North Korea is a demilitarised zone (DMZ), 250 km long and 4 km wide. It was created in 1953 after the Korean War. Endangered animals such as the Amur leopard and Asian tiger are thought to live there.
- Korea is one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in the world.
- Korea’s 51 million people are keen on technology. Korea has the world’s highest rate of broadband connection.
- Seoul, the capital city, has a large population of 10 million, densely packed into a small area. Many people live in high rise apartments.
- There are five Royal Palaces in Seoul, built by the Joseon kings who ruled for 500 years from 1392.
Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea
And a few interesting facts...
- Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. South Korea co-hosted the 2002 Football World Cup with Japan and will host the Winter Olympic Games in the city of Pyeongchang in 2018.
- Korean pop music, known as K-Pop, is a major export. "Gangnam Style" by PSY became the world’s most viewed video on Youtube in 2012! Gangnam is a fashionable area in Seoul.
- Kimchi, the nation’s favourite dish, is made with fermented vegetables such as cabbage. It is served to accompany most meals and is said to help prevent bird flu.
- Korean babies are one year old on the day that they are born, then add another year on New Year’s Day.
- Koreans have two News Years. In addition to January 1st, Koreans also celebrate the Lunar New Year in February.
- The Korean alphabet is called Hangul. It has 10 vowels and 14 consonants and is easy to learn for young children.
- Korean schools use robots to teach English! They have a computer screen which shows the face of a teacher, who can be sitting in another country whilst helping children to learn!
- Koreans are obsessed with the computer game ‘Starcraft’. There were professional players and two TV channels dedicated to broadcasting tournaments.
- The Korean martial art taekwondo is the national sport. Unsurprisingly Koreans have won the most Olympic gold medals.
- In February 2018, Pyeongchang in South Korea will play host to the 2018 Winter Olympics!
The South Korean Flag
The white flag of South Korea features a red and blue Yin-Yang symbol, with red (yang) on the top and blue (yin) underneath, symbolising balance in the universe. The four trigrams at the corners represent the concept of opposites and balance.
Our South Korea Resources
Print our little South Korea booklet for storing interesting facts and research! Instructions for folding here.
Print out some bookmarks for the kids, with the South Korean flag in pride of place! We have two colour and two black and white versions to choose from.
Can the kids find out a little bit about South Korea and locate it on the map on our fact worksheet?
Find out the colours you need to colour in the South Korean flag - and off you go!
Whatever your project this South Korea flag printable has five different size flags so you can find one to suit.
Start with our "guided" location worksheet, which asks children to find South Korea on a simplified, labelled map of Asia. Then move on to the much more difficult blank worksheet!
Use these notebooking pages, featuring the South Korean flag, to keep your research about South Korea. Page 1 has space for a map or drawing too.
This useful map shows South Korea on a simplified map of Asia, to give children an idea of its size and neighbours.
Find out some facts and record what you've learned with our simple South Korea fact-finding worksheet.
Sport
We have some taekwondo printables and colouring pages here at Activity Village
Taekwondo