Physical Geography
South Korea, a country in East Asia, amounts to 45% of the Korean peninsula containing rivers, mountain ranges, natural resources, and volcanic islands. The country is surrounded by three main bodies of water, the East China Sea to the east, the Yellow Sea to the west, and the Korea Strait …show more content…
South Korea itself is isolated. This is due to it being located on the Korean Peninsula and it being surrounded by bodies of water. It could be described as the handle of an ax. The entire Korean peninsula appears to look like an ax with the head of the ax being North Korea and the handle being South Korea. The two countries are split apart by the demilitarized zone that is 2.5 miles wide and is 150 miles in length. This zone was established upon the signing of the 1953 Armistice Agreement for the Restoration of the South Korean State that resulted from the Korean War, which took place during 1950-1953 (South Korea, 2015). This line influences the shape of the country. Therefore, the borders of the country are coasts along the bodies of water and the demarcation line between South Korea and North …show more content…
They are members of multiple organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the World Health Organization (WHO). Additionally, South Korea has been a member of the United Nations since 1991. The latest count of diplomatic relations was in 2012 at 189 countries (International Relations, n.d.). Despite the local tension with China, Japan, Taiwan, and Russia, the United States has been a strong ally (Choi, 2013). The two countries “share a long history of friendship and cooperation based on common values and interests” as they “work together to combat regional and global threats” dating back to the 1882 Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce, and Navigation (U.S. Relations With South Korea,