South Korea

=== Ancient Korea ===
{{multiple image
| align     = right
| direction = vertical
| image1 = Front view of Seokguram from front chamber.jpg
| caption1 = [[Seokguram Grotto]] from the [[Silla]] era, a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]
| image2 = History of Korea-Inter-country Age-830 CE.gif
| caption2 = [[Balhae]] (violet) and [[Unified Silla|Silla]] (blue), circa 830 CE
}}
{{multiple image
| align     = right
| direction = vertical
| image1 = SelectedTeachingsofBuddhistSagesandSonMasters1377.jpg
| caption1 = The oldest surviving metal movable type book, the ''[[Jikji]]'', was printed in 1377, and [[Goryeo]] created the world's first metal-based movable type in 1234.<ref name="print_c" />
| image2 = Korea-Haeinsa-Tripitaka Koreana-01.jpg
| caption2 = The ''[[Tripitaka Koreana]]'' — the Buddhist canon (''[[Tripiṭaka]]'') carved onto roughly 80,000 woodblocks and stored (and still remaining) at [[Haeinsa]], also a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]
}}

The Korean Peninsula was inhabited as early as the [[Lower Paleolithic]] period.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.rom.on.ca/news/releases/public.php?mediakey=sg1yebpnv8|title=Ancient civilizations|publisher=Royal Ontario Museum|location=Canada|date=12 December 2005|access-date=25 April 2010|archive-date=8 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108064155/http://www.rom.on.ca/news/releases/public.php?mediakey=sg1yebpnv8|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opm.go.kr/warp/webapp/content/view?meta_id=english&id=35|title=Prehistoric Korea|website=About Korea|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302014245/http://www.opm.go.kr/warp/webapp/content/view?meta_id=english&id=35|archive-date=2 March 2008|access-date=12 July 2008}}, Office of the Prime Minister.</ref>

According to Korea's [[Civil religion|founding mythology]], the history of Korea begins with the founding of Joseon (also known as "[[Gojoseon]]", or "Old Joseon", to differentiate it with the 14th century dynasty) in 2333 BCE by the legendary [[Dangun]].<ref name="koreashistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/history.htm |title=Korea's History |publisher=Asian Shravan |access-date=17 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100128065300/http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/history.htm |archive-date=28 January 2010}}</ref><ref name="DangunGija">*{{cite book|last=Seth|first=Michael J.|title=A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WJtMGXyGlUEC&pg=PA443|year=2010|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-7425-6717-7|page=443|access-date=1 January 2016|archive-date=24 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124005645/https://books.google.com/books?id=WJtMGXyGlUEC&pg=PA443|url-status=live}}
:"An extreme manifestation of nationalism and the family cult was the revival of interest in Tangun, the mythical founder of the first Korean state... Most textbooks and professional historians, however, treat him as a myth."
*{{cite book|last=Stark|first=Miriam T.|title=Archaeology of Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z4_bT2SJ-HUC&pg=PA49|year=2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-5303-4|page=49|access-date=1 January 2016|archive-date=24 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124005645/https://books.google.com/books?id=z4_bT2SJ-HUC&pg=PA49|url-status=live}}
:"Although Kija may have truly existed as a historical figure, Tangun is more problematical."
*{{cite book|last=Schmid|first=Andre|title=Korea Between Empires|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVgaAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA269|year=2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-50630-4|page=270|access-date=1 January 2016|archive-date=24 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124005645/https://books.google.com/books?id=lVgaAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA269|url-status=live}}
:"Most [Korean historians] treat the [Tangun] myth as a later creation."
*{{cite book|last=Peterson|first=Mark|title=Brief History of Korea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ByIo1D9RY40C&pg=PA5|year=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-2738-5|page=5|access-date=1 January 2016|archive-date=24 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124005701/https://books.google.com/books?id=ByIo1D9RY40C&pg=PA5|url-status=live}}
:"The Tangun myth became more popular with groups that wanted Korea to be independent; the Kija myth was more useful to those who wanted to show that Korea had a strong affinity to China."
*{{cite book|last=Hulbert|first=H. B.|title=The History of Korea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WdusAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA73|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-84941-4|page=73|access-date=1 January 2016|archive-date=24 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124005646/https://books.google.com/books?id=WdusAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA73|url-status=live}}
:"If a choice is to be made between them, one is faced with the fact that the Tangun, with his supernatural origin, is more clearly a mythological figure than Kija."</ref> Gojoseon was noted in Chinese records in the early 7th century.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Peterson|first1=Mark|first2=Phillip|last2=Margulies|title=A Brief History of Korea|publisher=Infobase Publishing|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4381-2738-5|page=6}}</ref> Gojoseon expanded until it controlled the northern Korean Peninsula and parts of [[Manchuria]]. [[Gija Joseon]] was purportedly founded in the 12th century BCE, but its existence and role have been controversial in the modern era.<ref name="DangunGija" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Hwang|first= Kyung-moon|title=A History of Korea, An Episodic Narrative|year=2010|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-36453-0|page=4}}</ref> In 108 BCE, the [[Han dynasty]] [[Gojoseon–Han War|defeated]] [[Wiman Joseon]] and installed [[Four Commanderies of Han|four commanderies]] in the northern Korean peninsula. Three of the commanderies fell or retreated westward within a few decades. As [[Lelang Commandery]] was destroyed and rebuilt around this time, the place gradually moved toward Liaodong.{{Clarify|reason=Grammar and wording is a bit unusual; not sure of meaning|date=April 2023}} Thus, its force was diminished and only served as a trade center until it was conquered by Goguryeo in 313.<ref name="Gojoseon">[http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Korea.html Early Korea] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150625032709/http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Korea.html |date=25 June 2015 }}. Shsu.edu. Retrieved 17 April 2015.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?cid=46620&docId=532555&categoryId=46620|script-title=ko:낙랑군|website=terms.naver.com|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=23 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523054820/https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?cid=46620&docId=532555&categoryId=46620|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tR0FAQAAQBAJ&q=%EB%82%99%EB%9E%91%EA%B5%B0+%EC%B1%85&pg=PA52|script-title=ko:이야기보따리 삼국시대: 역사친구 004|last=이|first=문영|date=15 July 2011|publisher=Sowadang|via=Google Books|isbn=978-89-93820-14-0|access-date=28 March 2024|archive-date=28 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328145154/https://books.google.com/books?id=tR0FAQAAQBAJ&q=%EB%82%99%EB%9E%91%EA%B5%B0+%EC%B1%85&pg=PA52|url-status=live}}</ref>

Beginning around 300 BC, the [[Japonic]]-speaking [[Yayoi people]] from the Korean Peninsula entered the Japanese islands and displaced or intermingled with the original [[Jōmon people|Jōmon]] inhabitants.<ref>{{cite book | surname = Vovin | given = Alexander | author-link = Alexander Vovin | chapter = Origins of the Japanese Language | doi = 10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.277 | doi-access = free | title = Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2017 | isbn = 978-0-19-938465-5}}</ref> The linguistic homeland of Proto-[[Koreans]] is located somewhere in southern [[Siberia]]/[[Manchuria]], such as the [[Liao River]] area or the [[Amur]] River area. Proto-Koreans arrived in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula at around 300 BC, replacing and assimilating Japonic-speakers and likely causing the [[Yayoi period|Yayoi]] migration.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Janhunen|first=Juha|date=2010|title=RReconstructing the Language Map of Prehistorical Northeast Asia|journal=Studia Orientalia|quote=... there are strong indications that the neighbouring Baekje state (in the southwest) was predominantly Japonic-speaking until it was linguistically Koreanized.|number=108}}</ref>