Korea vs Japan

Korea was formerly a single country but was divided towards the end of the send world war into the North and South Korea. The area occupied by these 2 countries is known as the Korean peninsula. Japan is an archipelago of islands forming a country just off the South Korean coast separated by the Strait of Korea.

North and South Korea together have a land area of 84,972 Sq Miles with a combined population of 70,944,029. North Korea has a population density of 480 per Sq Mi while South Korea has a density of 1260 per Sq Mi. Japan in comparison has an area of 145,898 Sq Mi with a population of 127,449,000 and a density of 870 per Sq Mi.

Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910 and remained in the Japanese control till the end of the Second World War in 1945. After the defeat of Japan the Japanese forces in Korea surrendered to the Soviet and the American armies. This lead to the Korean War during 1950-1953 leaving the country divided in two. The North Korea and the South Korea. The North followed the Soviet ideology communism and the South following the American example of capitalist liberal democracy.

The Japanese recorded history dates back to 400 BC. However, human bones and fossils have been discovered in Japan dating back to the Paleolithic period. After the Second World War Japan has emerged as a developed country and also the world’s second largest economy. Japanese enjoy very high standards of living.

Koreans speak their own language called Hangul. This is known to be the most planned language in history and the alphabet is extremely easy to learn. Japanese is the language spoken in Japan. This language has 3 scripts mainly derived from Chinese.

Modern day Korean cuisine mainly consists of simple food. This is probably due to the fact of continued periods of subjection and food shortages. A typical meal would consist of soups, kimchi (pickled vegetables), main rice or noodle dish and a side dish. The Japanese cuisine is a bit more elaborate and they still observe some rituals while eating and serving. Some of the Japanese dishes are world famous like Sushi and Tempura.
Both Korean and Japanese people enjoy wrestling however both these countries have their own form of wrestling. The Korean wrestling is known as Sirium and is the traditional national sport. The Japanese wrestling is known as Sumo and all of us have already seen this at least once.

Summary:
1.Korea is the peninsula on the eastern part of Asian mainland while Japan is an Archipelago of islands off the Korean coast.
2.Korea was divided after Japan surrendered its occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
3.North Korea is a communist country with a closed economy while both South Korea and Japan are developed countries with the fastest growing economies.
4.Korean speak their own language called Hangul which was invented in the 15th century while Japanese has evolved from various Chinese dialects and uses 3 scripts mainly from Chinese.
5.Korean cuisine is much simpler compared to Japanese.
6.Korean wrestling is called Sirium and the Japanese wrestling is called Sumo.