South Korea Country Quiz

Can you guess these facts about South Korea?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: May 17, 2020
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First submittedMarch 14, 2014
Times taken61,504
Average score65.0%
Rating4.53
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Answer
Capital city
Seoul
Second most populous urban area
Busan
Largest corporation
Samsung
Most common family names
Kim
Lee
Park
Strip of land between South Korea and North Korea
Demilitarized Zone
Korean dish whose name means "mixed rice"
Bibimbap
Korean fermented cabbage
Kimchi
As of 2023, South Korea ranks #2 in the world for the speed of its ...
Internet
Most popular spectator sport
Baseball
Korean martial art and Olympic sport
Taekwondo
Self-proclaimed religious messiah who died in 2012
Sun Myung Moon
Sea to the east
Sea of Japan / East Sea
Sea to the west
Yellow Sea
Currency of South Korea
Won
Largest island
Jeju
Largest auto-makers
Hyundai
Kia
Rap video by Psy about a wealthy district of the capital
Gangnam Style
+11
Level 82
Jun 25, 2014
I used to live in Korea and the Sea of Japan answer was easy because I've looked at maps before that weren't printed in Korea. Only thing I missed was the messiah question.
+1
Level 68
Mar 3, 2024
Nobody cares
+24
Level 83
Jun 25, 2014
Any chance of accepting "demilitarised" with an s? Not all of us spell things the AmericaniSed way you know.
+7
Level ∞
Jun 25, 2014
Yes
+18
Level 75
May 17, 2020
dmz worked for me. (thanks, QM)
+1
Level 67
Mar 23, 2023
Demilitarized Zone Zone
+6
Level 90
Jun 25, 2014
Needs a bit more leniency on the spelling of tae kwan do... and yes, I know I spelled that wrong.
+3
Level 67
Jun 25, 2014
I second that.
+2
Level 33
Jun 25, 2014
Me too
+2
Level 69
Sep 10, 2015
yeah!
+1
Level 79
Aug 25, 2023
but you didn't spell it wrong
+1
Level 21
Mar 19, 2024
Yes they did. It's taekwOndo.
+2
Level 60
Jun 25, 2014
Would also be great if there were spellings for Gangnam. I tried Gangam, Gagnam, Gongnam.
+3
Level 77
Jun 25, 2014
I know what you mean....I typed Gangman. Knew what song was being referred to but never knew what they were actually saying!
+2
Level 82
Jun 26, 2014
Have spent several nights in Gangnam before...
+2
Level 49
Aug 15, 2019
Ever make it out to a club called Octagon? Not sure if it was around when you were there
+2
Level 82
Aug 15, 2019
I don't think so. Usually when I was in Gangnam it was to hang out with friends at restaurants or shopping areas. Sometimes visited An-mas there. The clubs I went to were in Hongdae, Sinchon, Yongsan, Itaewon, or local places close to where I lived in Gwangmyeong/Cheolsan. The only ones I remember names for were located in Hongdae, 2 clubs called Tinpan and Tinpan 2.
+5
Level 70
Aug 13, 2016
Didn't remember how to Spell Bibimbap, and for some reason Taekwondo didn't work, and I positively typed it in correctly.
+6
Level 63
Nov 20, 2016
I forgot which Korea this was and kept trying Kim Jung Il for the messiah question since he died around that time. I realized my mistake, but still didn't know the answer.
+7
Level 15
Jan 14, 2019
please change the thing 'sea of Japan'. It is absolutely the Korean territory, and it's actual name should be 'the East Sea'. Japan claims that it is Sea of Japan, and many maps were written as Sea of Japan, but it is absolutely not true.
+5
Level 40
Jan 27, 2019
I agree
+4
Level 49
May 16, 2019
Why don’t you claim the same for Yellow Sea = “West Sea”?
+13
Level 82
Aug 15, 2019
How did you determine this absolutely? Does Korea have absolute authority over what everyone else must call international bodies of water?
+8
Level 58
Jul 29, 2020
@Tailin because Japan has a history of claiming Korean turf for their own.
+7
Level 33
Jul 31, 2020
Then does Japan "have absolute authority over what everyone else must call international bodies of water"? What's your point? Just like we don't call the Mediterranean Sea the "Italian Sea" or "Spanish Sea", Koreans are simply suggesting that we don't label common territories by the name of a certain state for political gain. Unlike Japan, we're not claiming it to be the "Korean Sea", but merely advocating for a more politically appropriate, acceptable title. I suggest that people look into the historical/ political implications of this issue before looking to pick a fight, especially if you're not familiar with it. And this comment was making a legitimate suggestion in regards to a highly debated matter, especially considering that the quiz is regarding Korea specifically, not some other random post.
+2
Level 82
Aug 1, 2020
ydeau said that the broad international consensus and the name that has been used in the English-speaking world for well over a century was "absolutely not true," and the the sea was "absolutely the Korean territory"... both claims are dumb, and wrong, but he is asserting their truth "absolutely." I was responding to him, and my point should be clear. This has nothing to do with Japan.
+4
Level 74
Aug 9, 2020
"Then does Japan 'have absolute authority over what everyone else must call international bodies of water'? What's your point? Just like we don't call the Mediterranean Sea the 'Italian Sea' or 'Spanish Sea.'" The Irish Sea, the Gulf of Finland, the English Channel, the Norwegian Sea, the Gulf of Guinea, the East and South China Seas, the Arabian Sea. The Persian Gulf, the Timor Sea, the Philippine Sea. Even around the Korean Peninsula there is the Korea Bay and the Korea Strait. None of these bodies of water are claimed by any of these countries, they are named after nearby places just like almost every other sea we have a name for. Saying a single example is about politics is hypocritical because you seem to have no problem with the hundreds of others.
+2
Level 47
Jul 31, 2020
That would be somewhat inconsistent with how the world names things. For instance the South China Sea is controlled by a number of different countries (Unless you view it as China does). The Gulf of Mexico, Indian Ocean, English Channel ect are all shared amongst various countries.
+3
Level 67
Aug 15, 2019
Please accept other spellings for the surnames, such as Gim, Li, Ri, Yi, I, Pak, Bak.
+4
Level 66
May 25, 2020
Gimli? That gives me very interesting images :)

(Like a nunchuk/nanchaku wielding dwarf called Kim Lee instead of Gimli)

+2
Level 72
Aug 10, 2020
Aren't nunchuks a Japanese thing?
+2
Level 82
Jul 29, 2020
Pak is definitely very common for Park. The others less so. Li is usually seen in China.
+3
Level 61
Aug 15, 2019
Please accept the spelling “Pak” or “Bak” / “Yi” or “I” since it is the official romanisation of the Korean surnames, the spelling “Park” for the pronunciation and the “Lee” has many adaptations, of which it changed to “I” around 1910-1945 Japanese annexation period.

Other than that, it’s a great quiz overall. Thanks for making a South Korean quiz

+2
Level 81
Aug 15, 2019
Great quiz.
+2
Level 47
Aug 15, 2019
Was stationed in Seoul for a year and half my company was composed of local KATUSA soldiers (Republic of Korea Army soldiers attached to American units). In the USA we use our family name to distinguish eachother. It was a little bit more difficult with the KATUSAs because probably most of them had the same name.
+7
Level 69
Sep 20, 2019
I got "Kim" when tried to type "kimchi". :D
+4
Level 18
Nov 24, 2019
But east sea is not japan sea. i'm korean so i'm very angry for that word
+3
Level 82
May 17, 2020
It's a geographical feature, they often have more than one name. The sea isn't even wholly part of South Korea.
+2
Level 76
May 19, 2020
Like the Irish sea. I'm British and have never heard a Brit complain about the name before. I've never heard a French person complain about the English Channel either.
+8
Level 79
Jul 29, 2020
The French don't call the water between them and England the English Channel though (they call it La Manche). They probably would complain if they had to call it something to do with England.
+3
Level 73
Dec 30, 2020
It would be insulting if Britain had a problem with that name, considering how they treated the Irish in the past.
+1
Level 32
Oct 6, 2023
I agree
+1
Level 69
Jan 13, 2022
It literally is the Japan sea. That's what it's called. Maybe in Korean its called something else, but in English it is referred to as the Japanese Sea
+2
Level 81
Mar 27, 2023
In English it's the Sea of Japan.
+1
Level 35
Mar 9, 2024
In the maps of Joseon Dynasty, South Korea, and even long ago in Japan, it was called East Sea for almost 2000 years. The name 'Sea of Japan' was made a lot later.
+2
Level 66
May 30, 2020
If you appose "East Sea" to Japan Sea, you should appose "West Sea" to Yellow Sea too. Because both "East Sea" and "West Sea" is no more than Korean local naming.
+4
Level 16
Jun 3, 2020
This was easy.
+2
Level 89
Jul 29, 2020
Agreed. Very easy.
+2
Level 58
Jul 29, 2020
100%
+3
Level 74
Jul 29, 2020
This quiz is crying out for a BTS question (or at least a Kpop question more current than Psy, who feels like he hit lifetimes ago in the rapidly evolving world of Kpop).
+7
Level 82
Jul 29, 2020
Every time I see BTS I automatically think of the Skytrain in Bangkok. Not KPop. Couldn't hum a single one of their songs. And Gangnam Style still has more views on YouTube than any BTS song.
+1
Level 62
Mar 23, 2023
And I think of Behind the Sofa, a Doctor Who recurring series adapting the concept of the hit show Gogglebox.

Songs I can’t understand are very much not something I will ever enjoy, so K-pop as a genre is very much a dead thing as far as I’m concerned.

+3
Level 52
Jul 30, 2020
Wikipedia: "A 2019 poll showed that a plurality of 22.7% of South Korean sports fans identified football as their favorite sport, with baseball ranked 2nd at 20.6% of respondents."
+3
Level 82
Jul 30, 2020
pure meaningless anecdote: there was a beautiful and pristine soccer field and park right next to the building where I lived near Seoul. But I never saw anyone playing baseball.

However it seemed like StarCraft was way more popular than both. Many of my students wanted to become professional StarCraft players, and there were channels on my TV dedicated to broadcasting StarCraft games 24/7, including some recorded in studios with a live audience. I saw people playing in PC Bangs on virtually every street. Same cannot be said for football, baseball, or any other sport.

+2
Level 82
Aug 1, 2020
actually there was a group of batting cages in Cheolsan now that I think about it. But I still never saw anyone playing a full game.
+2
Level 47
Jul 31, 2020
I'm kinda mad I didn't get Bimbimbap. I used to eat that all the time when I was in Korea.
+2
Level 58
Oct 28, 2020
Does anyone have this badge?
+3
Level 27
May 21, 2021
Son Heung-Min question?
+1
Level 88
Oct 8, 2021
No Yi Sun-sin?
+2
Level 68
Feb 28, 2022
Could you accept broadband for internet?
+2
Level 83
Aug 17, 2022
A little flexibility on the spelling of Bimbimbap would be nice.
+2
Level 60
Nov 18, 2022
Still no Korean Neo metal boys band whose name would be Lee-Kim-Park ?
+1
Level 60
Feb 10, 2023
5/20. how could i know so little about S.Korea. Not to mention miss Yellow Sea.
+1
Level 72
Feb 16, 2023
I had "Bibibap".... not close enough I guess...
+1
Level 55
Mar 23, 2023
where does south korea rank 2nd on internet speed? I knew it was good but not that good
+1
Level 81
Mar 27, 2023
We're down to 19 now.

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2023/01/419_342912.html#:~:text=The%20National%20Information%20Society%20Agency's,by%20Singapore%20with%20295.78%20Mbps.

+1
Level 35
Mar 9, 2024
But according to datapanda.org in 2024, we ranked 10th in the fastest!
+2
Level 59
May 1, 2023
Could you maybe add Wifi as a type in for internet? Unless those are considered different enough to not count
+1
Level 68
Dec 22, 2023
Very hard, 8/20.