North Korea And South Korea

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Located between the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan lies a country of rising social and economical prosperity accompanied by a rich and thriving sport culture. This country is The Republic of Korea, more commonly known as South Korea. A nation famished by invasion and civil war, South Korea has emerged as a global player, embracing and emerging itself in global culture.
One cannot study the historical and cultural characteristics related to sport development of The Republic of Korea without first acknowledging the tumultuous history of war, division, and invasion throughout the 20th century. We must also take a look at the distinct relationship between itself and North Korea and how the two sport cultures differ.
North Korea, or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), operates independently of South Korea, the Republic of Korea. North
Korea operates as a communist country, while South Korea operates as a democratic society.
Currently North Korea acts under the Juche policy. The Juche policy became the official state ideology of the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea in 1972 (Lee, 2003, p. 105). In the words of Kim II Sung:

“…Establishing Juche means, in a nutshell, being the master of

revolution and reconstruction in one’s own country. This means

holding fast to an independent position, rejecting dependence on
Sport Governance Structure and Sport Development in The Republic of Korea

others, using one’s own brains, believing in one’s own strength, displaying the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance, and thus solving one’s own problems for oneself on one’s own responsibility under all circumstances…” (Lee, 2003, p. 105).

Essentially, North Korea operates independently and, for the m...

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...the World Cup period, attracting over 15 million visitors, 800,000 of whom were foreign tourists (Dho, 2006, p. 139). Considering that this was the first FIFA World Cup ever held in Asia, the hosting was virtually flawless; critics noting the exceptional functioning and designs of the infrastructure (Dho, 2006, p. 140).
Today South Korea is competing at the highest level internationally and continues to thrive and be a nation of great pride and competition. Issues of the past have been overcome and a lot of it has to do with sport.
Sports connect people and allow them to have mutual understandings instead of hostility caused by cultural differences (Kee Young, 2009, p.
50). The interchange of sports has been acknowledged as an effective means of exchange regardless of differences in politics, language, and religion among nations (Kee Young, 2009, p .46).

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