10 things you probably didn't know about Korea

As you've probably heard, North Korea has entered "Combat Posture One" and the South Korean military has promised "strong retaliation" for any encroachment or aggression. It seems like that's all we hear about Korea these days—the latest traded threats and propaganda. That, and the U.S. fought some kind of war there against marauding North Koreans with nodongs and their Chinese buddies. Oh, and Kim Yu-na:

But here are some things you probably didn't know. A couple of them are pretty badass.

Number One: In 1597, in the most desperate hour of the Imjin War, Admiral Yi Sun-sin, Korea's most celebrated naval commander, fought a glorious battle against the invading Japanese fleet. The Japanese had 333 ships. Yi had 13, the shattered remnants of the once-mighty Joseon Navy. Using a combination of strategy, trickery, home-field advantage, technological superiority, and balls-out badassery, Yi won. He defeated the overwhelming enemy force and sent 'em back to their mamas. It's generally agreed that Yi's victory at the Battle of Myeongnyang effectively broke the back of the Japanese war effort. It's also the reason that naval historians refer to Yi as "the Nelson of the East."

Number Two: Would you like to know where "the world's most comprehensive and oldest intact version of Buddhist canon in Hanja script [Chinese symbols], with no known errors or errata in the 52,382,960 characters which are organized in over 1496 titles and 6568 volumes" is?

Of course you would. It's in Korea. It's called the Tripitaka Koreana, and it's the Goryeo Dynasty's hand-made copy of the Buddhist scriptures. All of them. Korean monks painstakingly carved them, without a single error or omission, onto 81,258 wooden blocks in the 13th century. The blocks are stored at Haeinsa, a temple in South Gyeongsang Province, and are intact and whole even to this day. Think about that for a moment. Eighty-one thousand wooden blocks. Fifty-two million characters. That must have taken some doing.

Number Three: You know the Burj Khalifa, the tallest man-made structure in the world? Guess who the primary contractor was?

Number Four: Historians across the globe disagree on precise dates, but evidence suggests that Korea invented woodblock printing and movable-type printing in the 13th century, many years before similar technology arose in Europe. Korea may have beaten Gutenberg to the punch!

Number Five: The Korean alphabet, Hangeul, is so logical, efficient and scientifically precise that it has been appropriated for use in cataloging and preserving unwritten and dying languages. With the addition of a few extra characters, of course:

Number Six: When South Koreans get to protesting, they don't kid around. Number six and number one in this article prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Just look at those guys. Number six covers himself in 187,000 bees and the dudes in Busan go up against a police water cannon and win, and then start knocking over shipping containers with nothing but grappling hooks and upper-body strength. I don't even care what they're protesting about, that's badass.

Number Seven: Lifted straight from About.com: "Since the early 1960s, South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world economy. Four decades ago GDP per capita was comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. In 2004, it joined the trillion dollar club of world economies. Today its GDP per capita is 14 times North Korea's and equal to the lesser economies of the European Union."

Of course, what isn't mentioned is that this amazing economic feat was kick-started by Park Chung-hee (the current president's father), a military man who seized power and ruled Korea as a political strongman until his eventual assassination. Park appointed all of his cronies to be heads of corporations, so that he could have what amounted to a nationalized economy with all the added benefits of free-market capitalism. Socialism in the guise of free enterprise. Oh well, it worked. South Korea went from a smoking crater to a trillion-dollar economy club member in the space of forty years. Boom. 

Number Eight: The Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) had undercover cops. Seriously! They were called Amhaeng-eosa (암행어사), or "undercover royal inspectors." Their job was to go around disguised as beggars and make sure that the provincial governors were not abusing their power. They'd wander the peninsula, dirty and ragged like homeless vagabonds, keeping their eyes and ears open for citizens' complaints. Though the Amhaeng-eosa were almost always young guys (the high'rups figured that younger men would have a strong sense of justice), their authority exceeded that of the provincial governors. They had the power to dismiss or arrest an official as they saw fit.

But here's the coolest part: these inspector dudes had badges. Über top-secret ID badges! They were called mapae (마패), or "horse requisition tablets." They were big and round and made of bronze, with a figure of a horse stamped on them, usually. Amhaeng-eosa also carried letters of commission from the king, called bongseo (봉서). If he discovered evidence of corruption, bribery, graft, or human rights violations, a secret inspector would flash his papers and his badge, roust out the local garrison and arrest the offending official in broad daylight. Then he'd march him back to Seoul for the king to pass judgment on, and make recommendations about which upstanding and intelligent peasants back in the province would make a good replacement. Isn't that neat?

Number Nine: While I've never seen anything larger than roe deer in Korea (and that was just Jeju Island), the Korean peninsula was once home to Siberian tigers. Yes, that's right. Tigers. They played quite a part in the development of Korean culture. They figure highly in many Korean folk tales, usually as the ravenous, dissolute villain. They often show up in Korean period films, or evidence of them at least: tiger traps, or dire warnings to solitary travelers to build big fires and keep their weapons handy at night.

There's a hammy scene in the film The War of the Arrows where several of the evil Manchu raiders are slain by a conveniently large tiger on Korean soil. (What do you mean, it's not symbolic?)

There's not a single tiger in South Korea outside of a zoo now, but rumor has it they still roam along the North Korean-Russian border. There are, however, still supposed to be Asian black bears wandering around the mountains in South Korea's national parks...

Number Ten: Y'know how Japan is always called "the Land of the Rising Sun"? Well, Korea has a nickname too. It's called "the Land of the Morning Calm." On that same note, have you ever wondered where the name "Korea" came from? Arab traders, that's who. As I've mentioned elsewhere numerous times, Korea has gone through several periods of strife, division, war, and reunification. Kingdoms and dynasties have risen and fallen many times. Arab merchants first came to these shores during the reign of the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392), which also gave rise to the aforementioned Tripitaka Koreana. The Muslims inquired after the name of this fertile peninsula and were told that it was simply "Goryeo." The Arabs marked it on their maps as such, and the place eventually came to be known as "Korea" by the rest of the world. (If you're confused about how that happened, say the word "Goryeo," which sounds similar to "GORE-ya," six times fast. Makes sense now, right?)

There, that's all I could think of. You're now a little smarter. My work here is done. Good night!