KOREA -SOUTH - 대한민국 / 大韓民國 / Daehan Minguk

South Korea (Korean: 한국/韓國; RR: Hanguk or literally 남한/南韓; RR: Namhan), officially the Republic of Korea (ROK, Korean: 대한민국/大韓民國; RR: Daehan Minguk) is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. The name Korea is derived from Goguryeo, which was one of the great powers in East Asia during its time, ruling most of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria, parts of the Russian Far East and Inner Mongolia under Gwanggaeto the Great. Its capital, Seoul, is a major global city and half of South Korea's over 51 million people live in the Seoul Capital Area, the fourth largest metropolitan economy in the world.

The Korean Peninsula was inhabited as early as the Lower Paleolithic period. Its first kingdom was noted in Chinese records in the early 7th century BC. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea into Silla and Balhae in the late 7th century, Korea was ruled by the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) and the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897). The succeeding Korean Empire was annexed into the Empire of Japan in 1910. After World War II, Korea was divided into Soviet and U.S.-administered zones, with the latter becoming the Republic of Korea in August 1948. In 1950, a North Korean invasion began the Korean War and after its end in 1953, the country's economy began to soar, recording the fastest rise in average GDP per capita in the world between 1980 and 1990. The June Struggle led to the end of authoritarian rule in 1987 and the country is now the most advanced democracy and has the highest level of press freedom in Asia. It has the 10th highest social mobility in the world, with 17% of children born to parents in the bottom half of educational attainment ending up in the top quarter. About three thousand islands, mostly small and uninhabited, lie off the western and southern coasts of South Korea. Jeju-do is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) off the southern coast of South Korea. It is the country's largest island, with an area of 1,845 square kilometers (712 square miles).

The name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a shortened form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, which was pronounced by the visiting Persian merchants as "Korea". The modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Company's Hendrick Hamel. Despite the coexistence of the spellings Corea and Korea in 19th century publications, some Koreans believe that Imperial Japan, around the time of the Japanese occupation, intentionally standardised the spelling on Korea, making Japan appear first alphabetically. South Korea has 20 national parks and popular nature places like the Boseong Tea Fields, Suncheon Bay Ecological Park, and the first national park of Jirisan.

Joseon issued its own first stamps on 18 November 1884 when the first postal service was created. all of the same design featuring a taegeuk symbol. They were overprinted "Dae Han" in 1897, and surcharged to 1 poon in 1900. A currency change in 1900, to rin, cheun, and {[transl|kor|weun}}, necessitated new stamps, and accordingly a series of 13 was issued, with values ranging from 2 rin to 2 weun. While all the designs have a common theme of the taegeuk symbol, the frames are different for each value, and the three highest values are printed in two colors each. In 1902 five of these were surcharged using black handstamps.

Korea issued its first commemorative stamp on 18 October 1902, marking the 40th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Gojong. The orange stamp depicted the emperor's crown. The last stamps of the Empire were another series of 13 issued in 1910, with all stamps of a common depicting a falcon symbol. However, in 1910, Japan assumed administrative control of Korean Empire, and subsequently all mail used Japanese Chosēn stamps. This state of affairs continued until early 1945 after liberation. The first stamps of South Korea were issued on 1 February 1946. Korea Post is the national postal service of South Korea, under the authority of the Ministry of Science and ICT, formerly Ministry of Knowledge Economy until 2013. Korea Post is in charge of postal service, postal banking، and insurance services. Its headquarters are in Sejong City.