South Korea

== Etymology ==
{{See also|Names of Korea}}
[[File:History of Korea-476.PNG|thumb|upright|left|The name ''Korea'' is derived from the shortened form of ''Goguryeo'': ''Goryeo'' (''Koryŏ)'']]

The name ''Korea'' is an [[Endonym and exonym|exonym]], although it was derived from a historical kingdom name, ''[[Goryeo]]'' ([[Revised Romanization of Korean|Revised Romanization]]) or ''Koryŏ'' ([[McCune–Reischauer]]). ''Goryeo'' was the shortened name officially adopted by [[Goguryeo]] in the 5th century<ref>{{cite book|last1=Roberts|first1=John Morris|last2=Westad|first2=Odd Arne|title=The History of the World|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-993676-2|page=443|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A2cfZkU5aQgC&q=koguryo+powerful+empire|access-date=15 July 2016|year=2013|archive-date=14 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114234403/https://books.google.com/books?id=A2cfZkU5aQgC&q=koguryo+powerful+empire|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Gardner|first1=Hall|title=Averting Global War: Regional Challenges, Overextension, and Options for American Strategy|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-60873-3|pages=158–159|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=acvGAAAAQBAJ&q=great+powers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417203941/https://books.google.com/books?id=acvGAAAAQBAJ&q=great+powers|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2021|access-date=15 July 2016|date=27 November 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Laet|first1=Sigfried J. de|title=History of Humanity: From the seventh to the sixteenth century|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=978-92-3-102813-7|page=1133|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PvlthkbFU1UC&pg=PA1133|access-date=8 November 2016|year=1994|archive-date=14 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114234404/https://books.google.com/books?id=PvlthkbFU1UC&pg=PA1133|url-status=live}}</ref> and the name of its 10th-century successor state Goryeo.<ref name="Koryo1">{{cite book|last1=Rossabi|first1=Morris|title=China Among Equals: The Middle Kingdom and Its Neighbors, 10th–14th Centuries|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-04562-0|page=323|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sNpD5UKmkswC&q=%22As+the+self-proclaimed+successor+to+Koguryo+and+the+protector+of+Parhae+refugees%2C+many+of+them+of+Koguryo+origin%2C+Koryo+considered+the+northern+territories+in+Manchuria+its+rightful+legacy.%22|access-date=8 November 2016|date=20 May 1983|archive-date=14 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114234928/https://books.google.com/books?id=sNpD5UKmkswC&q=%22As+the+self-proclaimed+successor+to+Koguryo+and+the+protector+of+Parhae+refugees%2C+many+of+them+of+Koguryo+origin%2C+Koryo+considered+the+northern+territories+in+Manchuria+its+rightful+legacy.%22|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Koryo2">{{cite book|last1=Yi|first1=Ki-baek|title=A New History of Korea|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-61576-2|page=103|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2mdVwXpMzwC&pg=PA103|access-date=8 November 2016|year=1984|archive-date=14 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114234927/https://books.google.com/books?id=g2mdVwXpMzwC&pg=PA103|url-status=live}}</ref> Visiting Arab and Persian merchants pronounced its name as "Korea".<ref>{{citation |last = Yunn |first = Seung-Yong |year = 1996 |title = Religious culture of Korea |chapter = Muslims earlier contact with Korea |publisher = Hollym International |page = 99}}</ref> The modern name of Korea appears in the first Portuguese [[Portolan chart|maps]] of 1568 by João vaz Dourado as ''Conrai''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dourado|first=Fernão|title=Atlas de Fernão Vaz Dourado|url=https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=4162624|website=Arquivo nacional da Torre do Tombo|access-date=13 August 2020|archive-date=21 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621104001/http://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=4162624|url-status=live}}</ref> and later in the late 16th century and early 17th century as Korea (Corea) in the maps of Teixeira Albernaz of 1630.<ref>{{Cite web|title=1369MAPAS E ICONOGRAFIA DOS SÉCS. XVI E XVII|url=https://www.tdx.cat/bitstream/handle/10803/4951/fmpnro4de4.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y|access-date=13 August 2020|archive-date=6 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206024701/https://www.tdx.cat/bitstream/handle/10803/4951/fmpnro4de4.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Kingdom of ''Goryeo'' became first known to Westerners when [[Afonso de Albuquerque]] [[Capture of Malacca (1511)|conquered Malacca]] in 1511 and described the peoples who traded with this part of the world known by the Portuguese as the ''Gores''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=pato|first=Raymundo|title=Cartas de Afonso de Albuquerque, vol. 1|url=https://pt.scribd.com/doc/123188359/Cartas-de-Afonso-de-Albuquerque-vol-1|access-date=13 August 2020|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417213142/https://pt.scribd.com/doc/123188359/Cartas-de-Afonso-de-Albuquerque-vol-1|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite the coexistence of the spellings ''Corea'' and ''Korea'' in 19th-century publications, some Koreans believe that [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japan]], around the time of the Japanese occupation, intentionally standardized the spelling of ''Korea'', making Japan appear first alphabetically.<ref name="UDN">{{cite web|date=5 July 2008|script-title=zh:Korea原名Corea? 美國改的名|url=http://city.udn.com/54543/2933925|access-date=28 March 2014|language=zh|newspaper=[[United Daily News]]|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006101951/http://city.udn.com/54543/2933925|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="LATimes0309">{{cite news|url=https://articles.latimes.com/2003/sep/15/world/fg-corea15|title=A 'C' Change in Spelling Sought for the Koreas|author=Barbara Demick|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=15 September 2003|access-date=28 March 2016|author-link=Barbara Demick|archive-date=11 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411062040/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/sep/15/world/fg-corea15|url-status=live}}</ref>

After Goryeo was replaced by [[Joseon]] in 1392, Joseon became the official name for the entire territory, though it was not universally accepted. The new official name has its origin in the ancient kingdom of [[Gojoseon]] (2333 BCE). In 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the country's official name from ''Joseon'' to ''Daehan Jeguk'' ([[Korean Empire]]). The name ''Daehan'' (Great Han) derives from [[Samhan]] (Three Han), referring to the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]], not the ancient confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula.<ref>{{cite web |last1=이기환 |script-title=ko:[이기환의 흔적의 역사]국호논쟁의 전말…대한민국이냐 고려공화국이냐 |url=http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201708300913001&code=960100&www |script-website=ko:경향신문 |publisher=[[Kyunghyang Shinmun]] |access-date=2 July 2018 |language=ko |date=30 August 2017 |archive-date=12 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812154305/http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201708300913001&code=960100&www |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=이덕일 |script-title=ko:[이덕일 사랑] 대~한민국 |url=http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2008/08/14/2008081401512.html |script-website=ko:조선닷컴 |publisher=[[The Chosun Ilbo]] |access-date=2 July 2018 |language=ko |archive-date=18 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218134345/http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2008/08/14/2008081401512.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the name ''Joseon'' was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japanese rule]], the two names ''Han'' and ''Joseon'' coexisted.

Following the [[surrender of Japan]], in 1945, the "Republic of Korea" ({{lang|ko|대한민국}} / {{lang|ko|大韓民國}}, [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]: {{IPA|ˈtɛ̝ːɦa̠nminɡuk̚}}; {{Audio|Ko-Daehan Minguk.ogg|listen|help=no}}) was adopted as the legal English name for the new country. However, it is not a direct translation of the Korean name.<ref name=unloved /> As a result, the Korean name "Daehan Minguk" is sometimes used by South Koreans as a [[Metonymy|metonym]] to refer to the Korean ethnicity (or "[[Korean ethnic nationalism|race]]") as a whole, rather than just the South Korean state.<ref name="thefreelibrary.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/North+Korea%27s+state-loyalty+advantage.-a0274114570|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180520092751/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/North+Korea's+state-loyalty+advantage.-a0274114570|url-status=dead|last=Myers|first=Brian Reynolds|author-link=Brian Reynolds Myers|title=North Korea's state-loyalty advantage.|work=Free Online Library|date=20 May 2018|archive-date=20 May 2018|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref><ref name=unloved>{{Cite web|url=http://sthelepress.com/index.php/2016/12/28/still-the-unloved-republic/|title=Still the Unloved Republic|date=28 December 2016|access-date=10 June 2019|quote=''Taehan minguk''. In English it is translated as Republic of Korea or South Korea, names which to us foreigners denote the state as a political entity distinct from its northern neighbor. To most people here, however, ''Taehan minguk'' conveys that sense only when used in contrastive proximity with the word ''Pukhan'' (North Korea). Ask South Koreans when the ''Taehan minguk'' was established; more will answer '5000 years ago' than 'in 1948,' because to them it is simply the full name for ''Hanguk'', Korea, the homeland. That's all it meant to most people who shouted those four syllables so proudly during the World Cup in 2002.|last=Myers|first=Brian Reynolds|author-link=Brian Reynolds Myers|work=Sthele Press|archive-date=13 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313210134/http://sthelepress.com/index.php/2016/12/28/still-the-unloved-republic/|url-status=dead}}</ref>