Overview
The Korean peninsula’s recorded history runs from Gojoseon — traditionally founded in 2333 BC in the Dangun legend, and historically attested in Chinese records by the 4th century BC — to the present day. Successive states adopted a state examination tradition from China while keeping a distinct language, for which King Sejong created the Hangul alphabet in the 15th century.
Buddhism and then Neo-Confucianism served as successive state ideologies, and the peninsula’s position between China and Japan repeatedly shaped its fate.
The major eras
After Gojoseon came the Three Kingdoms — Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla — then Unified Silla and Goryeo, the dynasty that gave Korea its Western name. The Joseon dynasty followed for five centuries, then the short-lived Korean Empire and Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945). After 1945 the peninsula was divided into North and South.
It remains divided today — the same nation in two states.