title: Diego Luna

text: Luna acted in his first play at age seven. As a child actor, he appeared in several telenovelas and films. In 1992, he had arcs on Televisa's "El abuelo y yo" and "Ángeles sin paraíso". As a teenager, Luna was part of the main casts of "El premio mayor" (1995–1996) and "" (1999–2000), playing the main characters' son; he also starred in the films "Un hilito de sangre" ("A Trickle of Blood"; 1995), ("The Comet;" 1999), and "Un dulce olor a muerte" ("A Sweet Scent of Death"; 1995), all which made him a teen star. He had small roles in the films ("Gimme the Power"; 2000) and "Before Night Falls" (2000), Luna's first international film.


title: Diego Luna

text: Luna starred as Tenoch Iturbide alongside Gael García Bernal in "Y tu mamá también" (2001), a Mexican road trip film directed by Alfonso Cuarón. A critical and box office success, the role brought him international stardom. The film was the beginning series of high-profile collaborations with childhood friend García Bernal, with whom he would costar in several films and go on to establish Canana Films. For these roles and others, the two are considered to be faces of the Nuevo Cine Mexicano film movement.


title: Diego Luna

text: In the following two years, Luna acted in Mexican films along with English-language productions like the miniseries "Fidel", "", the Kevin Costner western "Open Range", and the Academy Award-winning "Frida". He starred in the 2003 film "Nicotina", which was critically and commercially successful in Mexico. 2004 was a significant year for Luna as he starred in Steven Spielberg's "The Terminal" alongside Tom Hanks, the "" (a Cuban-based reimagining of "Dirty Dancing"), and the indie crime film "Criminal" opposite John C. Reilly. He subsequently had starring roles in the films "Fade to Black" (2006) and Harmony Korine's "Mister Lonely" (2007), and also appeared in the critically acclaimed biopic "Milk" (2008). In Spanish-language film, he starred in "Sólo Dios sabe" opposite Alice Braga ("Only God Knows"; 2006), crime thriller "Solo quiero caminar" ("Walking Vengeance"; 2008)—for which he was nominated for a Goya Award—and the soccer comedy "Rudo y Cursi" (2008), one of the highest grossing Mexican films of all time.


title: Diego Luna

text: In the early 2010s, Luna co-starred in the Will Ferrell Spanish-language comedy "Casa de mi Padre" (2012) and appeared in the action films "Contraband" and "Elysium". He appeared opposite Katy Perry in her music video for "The One That Got Away;" as of 2022, the music video has nearly 1 billion views on YouTube. He starred in the animated musical comedy "The Book of Life" (2014) whose soundtrack charted in numerous countries. In 2015, the pilot episode of the Amazon Studios series "Casanova", in which Luna stars as Giacomo Casanova. The show was not picked up to series.


title: Diego Luna

text: In August 2015, it was announced that Luna was part of the cast of what was then known as "Star Wars: Rogue One". "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" premiered in 2016, and his portrayal of Cassian Andor, a captain and intelligence officer of the Rebel Alliance, brought him international attention. He reprised the role in "Andor" (2022–present), the Disney+ series centered around the character. The show was originally announced in 2018 but production was delayed until November 2020 by the development process and the COVID-19 pandemic. A second and final season began production in Fall 2022 and is expected to wrap in August 2023; the season will be released in 2024. Luna is an executive producer of the series.


title: Diego Luna

text: In 2017, it was announced that he would star in a "Scarface" remake; however, the film went through multiple rewrites and directorial changes in the following years, losing Luna as the lead in the process.


title: Diego Luna

text: Luna starred as Mexican drug cartel leader Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo in the Netflix series "", which premiered in November 2018. He appeared in the first two seasons of the show. Film roles around this time included ensemble roles in the auteur films "If Beale Street Could Talk" (2018) and "A Rainy Day in New York" (2019), and a starring role in the 2020 indie drama "Wander Darkly". Luna had a number of voice acting roles in children's animation, including the 2022 box office hit "DC League of Super-Pets"; notably, he is part of every installment of Guillermo del Toro's "Tales of Arcadia" television franchise: (2016), (2018), (2020) and the film "" (2021).


title: Diego Luna

text: With frequent collaborator Gael García Bernal and producer Pablo Cruz, Luna created the production company Canana Films in 2005. Together, they have produced dozens of Mexican film and television productions. Notably, they executive produced the 2009 Cary Fukunaga film "Sin nombre", which was honored by the Sundance Film Festival and Independent Spirit Awards, the 2011 thriller "Miss Bala" which was submitted as Mexico’s foreign-language Oscar submission, and the 2015 drama "The Chosen Ones". In 2015, Luna and Cruz launched the branded entertainment studio Gloria for Latin American talent.


title: Diego Luna

text: Luna and García Bernal departed Canana in 2018, subsequently founding a new production company, La Corriente del Golfo. In October 2019, it was announced that Luna and García Bernal were joining the Creative Advisory Board for the TV and film development company EXILE Content. In 2020, they signed a first-look deal with Amazon Studios.


title: Diego Luna

text: In 2007, Luna directed his first film, a documentary about Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez. His first feature film, the dramedy "Abel", premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and received positive reviews.


title: Diego Luna

text: In 2012, Luna directed the biopic "Cesar Chávez"; the film starred Michael Peña as Cesar Chávez, the founder of the United Farm Workers, America Ferrera, and Rosario Dawson. The film premiered at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival and was awarded an Audience Award for Narrative Feature at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival. The film received mixed reviews. The following year, he created and directed the docu-series "Back Home", which follows celebrity guests on a journey to their family homelands. The show was broadcast on Fusion TV.


title: Diego Luna

text: His next feature film was "Mr. Pig", also known as "Sr. Pig", which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. The film stars Danny Glover and Maya Rudolph whose characters travel on a road trip through Mexico.


title: Diego Luna

text: It was announced in 2019 that Luna and García Bernal would executive produce an epic miniseries "Cortes" for Amazon starring Javier Bardem as conquistador Hernán Cortés, then described as "the largest Spanish-language production of all time." Two weeks into production in 2020, the production was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Diego Luna

text: In 2020, Luna created the Amazon Prime Video talk show "Pan y Circo", which he produced, directed, and hosts; the following year, he received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Talent in a Spanish Language Program. He created his first scripted television series, the satirical drama "", which was released on Netflix in 2021. Luna is also an executive producer of his series "Andor" which premiered in 2022.


title: Diego Luna

text: Luna, García Bernal, and Elena Fortes co-founded Ambulante, also known as the Ambulante Documentary Film Festival, an organization and film festival whose mission is for documentary films to be used as tools for transformation. The organization received the prestigious Washington Office on Latin America's Human Rights Award in 2011. In January 2015, Luna narrated a video of theirs about the obstacles faced by children migrating from their home countries and seeking refuge in the U.S.


title: Diego Luna

text: Luna was a repeat host of the 2000s-era MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamérica, hosting in 2002, 2003, and 2007; he presented an award at the 2006 ceremony. In 2004, he co-hosted the 18th Goya Awards with Cayetana Guillén Cuervo. He has also presented at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards, Premio Lo Nuestro 2014, 2014 MTV Fandom Awards, 74th Golden Globe Awards, 2018 MTV Europe Music Awards, 91st Academy Awards, and 74th Primetime Emmy Awards.


title: Diego Luna

text: Luna was a jury member at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. He was a member of the 2016 jury for the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. In 2017, he was part of the International Jury at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.


title: Diego Luna

text: Luna married Camila Sodi in February 2008; they divorced in March 2013. They have two children: Jerónimo (b. August 12, 2008), and Fiona (b. July 1, 2010), named after Luna's mother.


title: Diego Luna

text: Beginning in the mid-2000s, Luna lived in Los Angeles; since 2017, he and his family have lived in Mexico City.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series. For most of the series, he is the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts. As part of his backstory, it is revealed that he is the founder and leader of the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation dedicated to fighting Lord Voldemort, the main antagonist of the series.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Dumbledore was portrayed by Richard Harris in the film adaptations of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (2001) and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002). Following Harris' death in October 2002, Michael Gambon portrayed Dumbledore in the six remaining "Harry Potter" films from 2004 to 2011. Jude Law portrayed Dumbledore as a middle-aged man in the prequel films "" (2018) and "" (2022).


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Rowling stated she chose the name "Dumbledore", which is a dialectal word for "bumblebee", because of Dumbledore's love of music: she imagined him walking around "humming to himself a lot".


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Rowling said she enjoyed writing Dumbledore because he "is the epitome of goodness." She said that Dumbledore speaks for her, as he "knows pretty much everything" about the "Harry Potter" universe. Rowling mentioned that Dumbledore regrets "that he has always had to be the one who knew, and who had the burden of knowing. And he would rather not know." As a mentor to the central character Harry Potter, "Dumbledore is a very wise man who knows that Harry is going to have to learn a few hard lessons to prepare him for what may be coming in his life. He allows Harry to get into what he wouldn't allow another pupil to do, and he also unwillingly permits Harry to confront things he'd rather protect him from." In a 1999 interview, Rowling stated that she imagined Dumbledore "more as a John Gielgud type, you know, quite elderly and – and quite stately." During his time as a student, Dumbledore was in Gryffindor House. Rowling said in an interview that Dumbledore was about 150 years old. However, on her website, she states that Dumbledore was born in 1881, making him either 115 or 116 at the time of his death.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: On 19 October 2007, Rowling was asked by a young fan whether Dumbledore finds "true love". Rowling said that she always thought of Dumbledore as being homosexual and that he had fallen in love with the corrupt wizard Gellert Grindelwald, which was Dumbledore's "great tragedy"; Rowling did not explicitly state whether Grindelwald returned his affections. Rowling explains this further by elaborating on the motivations behind Dumbledore's flirtation with the idea of wizard domination of Muggles: "He lost his moral compass completely when he fell in love and I think subsequently became very mistrustful of his own judgement in those matters so became quite asexual. He led a celibate and a bookish life."


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: In the opening chapter of the first novel of the series, Dumbledore arrives at number four, Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey. When the evil wizard Lord Voldemort kills Harry's parents before being reduced to a lesser form, Dumbledore decides to place the now-orphaned Harry in the home of Vernon and Petunia Dursley. He knows that Harry will be protected by the special magic caused by his mother's sacrifice. He reasons that they are the only family he has left with Petunia Evans Dursley being Harry's aunt, who accepts her nephew into their home. This old magic of binding love renders Voldemort incapable of touching Harry. Dumbledore leaves Harry upon the doorstep of the Dursley home with a letter explaining the situation. He departs with the final phrase, "Good luck, Harry."


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: When Harry arrives at Hogwarts, Dumbledore tells him about the secrets of the Mirror of Erised, claiming that when he looks into it, he sees himself "holding a pair of thick, woollen socks." Harry later recalls in the final book that this was probably the only dishonest answer Dumbledore ever gave him. He is also responsible for somehow enchanting the Mirror so that it hides the Philosopher's Stone and only someone who looked into the Mirror and whose desire was "to find the Stone ... but not use it". The right person would receive it, as anybody else would only see themselves using the Stone due to the Mirror's special magic. He is called out to the Ministry of Magic by a false message on the night when Harry, his classmates Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and Hogwarts professor Quirinius Quirrell enter the dungeons to retrieve the Stone, but realises during the trip that he is needed at Hogwarts and returns in time to rescue Harry from Quirrell and Voldemort. He also has a final conversation with Harry after the events down in the dungeons and tells him that he is too young to understand why Voldemort is trying to kill him.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: In the second novel, a younger Dumbledore appears in a series of flashbacks, seen by Harry in a diary once owned by Tom Riddle, the most gifted student in Hogwarts' history - and the future Lord Voldemort. Through the diary, Harry sees Riddle's memory of Dumbledore questioning him about a series of attacks on Muggle-born students. In the present, Lucius Malfoy forces the school's other 11 governors to suspend Dumbledore as Headmaster in the wake of attacks by a basilisk in the school when the Chamber of Secrets is opened. Dumbledore is reinstated when the governors discover that Ginny Weasley was taken into the Chamber of Secrets and Lucius is found to have coerced the other governors into suspending him.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: At the beginning of the third novel, Dumbledore is forced to accept Dementors onto his school's grounds for the protection of his students from Sirius Black, a supposed murderer and accessory to murder, who had escaped from Azkaban. After Black's breach into Hogwarts, Dumbledore issues orders to close every entrance to the school and grounds. After Harry falls off his broomstick during a Quidditch match because of the Dementors, Dumbledore becomes uncharacteristically angry with them and uses his wand to cause Harry to levitate safely to the ground. Later in that book, Dumbledore suggests that Hermione use her Ministry-approved Time-Turner to go back three hours to save Buckbeak the hippogriff and Black from their unjust executions.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: In the fourth novel, Dumbledore introduces the Triwizard Tournament. He also serves as a judge during the entire event. When Harry's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore is not enraged, but remains calm; simply asking Harry whether he had himself, or had asked an older student to submit his name (although in the film version he does get angry to the point of manhandling Harry). When Harry answers no, he believes him. By the end of the book, Dumbledore's fears are realized when Harry returns from his encounter with Voldemort clutching the dead body of Cedric Diggory and when Mad-Eye Moody (being impersonated by Barty Crouch Jr, through Polyjuice Potion) takes Harry away from Dumbledore and to his office inside the castle. Dumbledore immediately becomes suspicious and heads straight towards Moody's office with Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape to save Harry and to interrogate Crouch. Afterwards, Dumbledore listens to Harry's eyewitness account about Voldemort's return. Harry though, only wakes up later to find Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge in the hospital wing arguing with McGonagall and Dumbledore about the situation of Voldemort's return and the consequences that would follow should Fudge remain in denial of this fact.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: In the fifth book, Dumbledore is demoted from Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards, and is almost stripped of his Order of Merlin First Class due to his speeches regarding the return of Voldemort, although it is reported that he is unconcerned as long as he is not taken off the Chocolate Frog cards. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Magic does everything they can to discredit him and Harry – mainly through the "Daily Prophet". At the beginning of the book, Dumbledore enrages Fudge when he stops by at Harry's hearing with a witness (Arabella Figg) to ensure that he is not expelled. While Harry feels better when Dumbledore assists him, he becomes annoyed to the point of being angry that the headmaster refuses to speak to or even look at him.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: During the following year at Hogwarts, the Ministry passes Educational Decree Twenty-two, allowing Fudge to place Dolores Umbridge to the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher (after Dumbledore failed to find a suitable candidate). Through her, Fudge gradually gains power over Hogwarts and Dumbledore, who he fears is building an under-age wizard army to overthrow the Ministry. Umbridge forbids practical defence practice in her classes, forcing Harry, Ron, and Hermione to form Dumbledore's Army (a defence group led by Harry) with fellow friends. When the Ministry discovers the D.A., Dumbledore, choosing to accept the responsibility, falsely claims that the organisation was his own subversive creation, and allows himself to be removed as headmaster (for the second time) rather than allow Harry to be expelled.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Dumbledore is not heard of again in the book until he arrives in the Department of Mysteries to aid the Order in the battle against Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters. He subdues all the Death Eaters, except for Bellatrix Lestrange, and binds them with an Anti-Disapparition Jinx to prevent them from magically escaping. He then saves Harry from the "Avada Kedavra" curse conjured by Voldemort and engages in a ferocious duel with the Dark Lord. This culminates in Voldemort's attempting to possess Harry in an attempt to make Dumbledore kill the boy. Voldemort is forced to leave Harry's body and flee with Lestrange after this ruse fails. Because several ministry officials witnessed the end of the battle, Dumbledore is reinstated as headmaster and retrieves all his distinctions. Towards the end of the book, Dumbledore explains to Harry that Voldemort chose him as his equal and that one must kill the other in the end, and confesses that his great affection for Harry has clouded his judgement.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: In the sixth book, Dumbledore fetches Harry from Privet Drive and takes him to persuade Horace Slughorn to rejoin the Hogwarts staff. Harry notices that Dumbledore's right hand is shrivelled and black. During the school year, Dumbledore teaches Harry of events in Voldemort's past that he feels are of immense importance. Using the Pensieve, they visit the memories of others, which contain important information about Voldemort's life and his genocidal rise to power. While using the pensieve, Harry sees a vision of Dumbledore's first encounter with the young Tom Riddle; Dumbledore had known from the beginning that the boy was dangerous, but believed that Hogwarts would change him.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: It is learned that Voldemort created six Horcruxes to gain immortality and that they must all be destroyed before Harry goes after the final piece of Voldemort's soul in the Dark Lord's body. Harry also repeatedly warns Dumbledore in most of their lessons that school bully Draco Malfoy is working for Voldemort. Dumbledore refuses to take any action against Draco, and instead tells Harry that he already knows more about what is happening than Harry does.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: By the end of the book, Dumbledore and Harry set out to the cave where Dumbledore believes a Horcrux resides. In the cave, Dumbledore drinks a potion inside the Horcrux's container; while drinking it, he begins to scream, seemingly enduring mental torture and being weakened. Dumbledore begins to call out for water after he finishes the potion, and Harry, realising he has no other choice, dips the goblet into the lake to give him a drink. When he does this though, all the Inferi that reside in the lake grab at Harry and attempt to drag him down and drown him in the lake. Dumbledore suddenly recovers, thanks to the water, and conjures a fire lasso around them. Dumbledore takes the horcrux (a locket) and both make their way back out of the cave and back to Hogsmeade. When they return, Madam Rosmerta informs them that the Dark Mark was conjured over the Astronomy Tower. In the tower, Dumbledore enjoins Harry not to interfere in the events that are about to take place there, and places him in a body-binding curse under his invisibility cloak. Hidden, Harry is unable to intervene as Dumbledore (now extremely weak) is disarmed by Draco. Dumbledore is conversing with Draco about the plot to kill him, when several other Death Eaters enter the tower and try to persuade Draco to kill Dumbledore. When Draco hesitates, Snape appears and performs the Killing Curse on Dumbledore, only after Dumbledore pleads with Snape saying, "Severus . . . please...". Dumbledore dies on Hogwarts' grounds.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Shortly after his death, Dumbledore's portrait magically appears in the Headmaster's office. His funeral is attended by students, Hogwarts staff, members of the Ministry of Magic, ghosts, centaurs, merpeople and others who wish to pay their respects. Shrouded in purple velvet, he is entombed in a white marble sarcophagus beside the lake at Hogwarts, and it is said that he is the only headmaster to be buried on the school grounds.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Rowling used several chapters in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" to reveal two major details concerning Dumbledore: his early life and his death. The book introduces his parents, Percival and Kendra Dumbledore, as well as his little sister, Ariana; his brother, Aberforth Dumbledore, was mentioned in previous books. At six years old, Ariana was attacked by three Muggle boys who had witnessed her performing magic. Because of this attack, Ariana was seriously traumatised and never able to control her magic again. Enraged, Percival attacked the Muggle boys (killing them in the film version), and was given a life sentence in Azkaban. After this, Kendra moved her family to the village of Godric's Hollow. In one of her outbursts, Ariana accidentally killed Kendra at around the time that Albus completed his education. Albus became the head of the family and was forced to remain in his house with his sister while Aberforth completed his education.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Soon afterward, a young Gellert Grindelwald arrived in Godric's Hollow to live with his great-aunt, Bathilda Bagshot, author of "A History of Magic". The two young men took to each other immediately, and together they dreamed of a world ruled by wizards over Muggles by uniting the legendary Deathly Hallows. They believed that if they were forced to destroy a few along the way, it would still be "for the greater good", and the sufferings and losses would be rewarded a hundredfold in the end. However, this scenario would never happen, as an argument between Albus, Aberforth, and Grindelwald led to a duel that resulted in Ariana's death. For the rest of his life, Albus felt guilty, never certain whether it was his own curse or another's that had killed his sister. Grindelwald stormed back to Bagshot's home and departed to begin his own rule, leaving the country hours later. As a result of his mistakes, Albus felt that he was not to be trusted with power and, because of this, never took the position of Minister for Magic, despite being offered it several times. Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts as professor of Transfiguration, and he served in recruiting students for the school.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Decades later, in 1945, Dumbledore finally defeated the now-Dark wizard Grindelwald, who had come to possess the Elder Wand. Grindelwald's defeat made Dumbledore the master of the Elder Wand, which remained his until just before his death, when Draco used the Disarming Charm on him.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Dumbledore had another Hallow in his keeping since the death of James Potter: the Invisibility Cloak, which he had borrowed to examine. When James died, Dumbledore kept the cloak and decided to pass it on to Harry, James' son.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: The truth about Dumbledore's death is revealed through Snape's last memories in the Pensieve. Harry learns that Dumbledore made a terrible error by placing a cursed ring on his right hand, sometime between the fifth and sixth book, forgetting the curses that must be on the ring. The ring held the Resurrection Stone, which Dumbledore hoped to use to allow him to apologise to his sister and parents. Dumbledore called Snape to help him; however, when Snape arrived and assessed the curse, all he could do was contain it. Snape told Dumbledore that he had little more than a year to live. After hearing this news, Dumbledore revealed to Snape that he knew about Voldemort's plan to have Draco kill him. He asked Snape to use the Killing Curse on him when the time came because he did not want Draco to have to kill him, saying that the boy's soul was still intact; Draco's soul would have been damaged in killing Dumbledore out of malice, whereas Snape was fully aware that he would be merely sparing Dumbledore pain and humiliation. He also intended for Snape to be the one to kill him and for the Elder Wand to be buried with him, in order to prevent the wand from being passed on again.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Dumbledore's spirit appears to Harry towards the end of the book in a limbo-like King's Cross, after Harry is struck with the Killing Curse which was conjured by Voldemort. During the last book, Harry finds out that he must die because he is a Horcrux. When Voldemort conjures the Killing Curse, Harry does not fight back, which stops him from dying. When they meet again, the boy comforts Dumbledore as he confesses all of his many regrets. Dumbledore then informs Harry of the choice he still has: of moving on to the next life or returning to his body to face Voldemort one last time. After returning from the mystical King's Cross and defeating and killing Voldemort, Harry has a short conversation with Dumbledore's portrait in the Headmaster's office about the fate of each of the three Deathly Hallows. He keeps the Cloak, leaves the Stone in the Forbidden Forest where he dropped it, and returns the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's tomb (from which Voldemort had stolen it). In the epilogue, it is revealed that Harry names his second son Albus Severus Potter after Dumbledore and Snape.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: In the film adaptations of "Philosopher's Stone" (2001) and "Chamber of Secrets" (2002), Dumbledore was played by Richard Harris, who was expected to play the character throughout the series. Harris was not the producer's first choice, the studio initially approached Sean Connery and Patrick McGoohan for the role. Connery, who disliked the film's subject matter, turned down the role while McGoohan, who showed interest, stepped away due to his declining health. Harris mentioned that he was originally not going to take the role, since he knew his own health was in decline. He accepted because his then-11-year-old granddaughter threatened never to speak to him again if he did not take it. Harris was determined to portray Dumbledore again in "Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004), despite having been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and asked David Heyman not to recast the role. However, his death on 25 October 2002 necessitated recasting.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Christopher Lee was the producer's immediate choice for replacing Harris, but scheduling conflicts due to Lee's commitments as Saruman in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and Count Dooku in the "Star Wars" prequels forced him to decline. Ian McKellen was also offered the role, but he turned it down, having played the similar character Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, as well as feeling it would have been inappropriate to take Harris' role, as Harris had called McKellen a "dreadful" actor. Harris' family had expressed an interest in seeing Peter O'Toole being chosen as his replacement. Harry Robinson, who doubled for Harris in the first two films, and who also lent his voice in the first "Harry Potter" video game, was also considered for the role of Dumbledore.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Michael Gambon was cast as Harris' replacement four months after Harris' death. Gambon was not concerned about bettering Harris, and he portrayed the character in his own way, putting on a slight Irish accent for the role, as well as completing his scenes in three weeks. Gambon reprised his role in all the remaining films.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Toby Regbo was chosen to portray Dumbledore in his youth in "Deathly Hallows – Part 1" and "Part 2", for flashbacks scenes which provide essential information on the character's backstory.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Albus Dumbledore is tall and thin, with silver hair and beard (auburn in his youth) so long that they can be tucked into his belt. He has a very long and crooked nose that looks as if it has been broken at least twice. (It is speculated that his brother's punch during their sister's funeral may have played a role in shaping his nose.) He is also said to have long and skillful fingers. His eyes are described as being a brilliant, soul-piercing shade of blue, and usually twinkled with kindness and mischief.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Dumbledore wears half-moon spectacles and a colourful array of robes, ranging from purple to bright orange. He once claimed to have a scar above his left knee in the precise shape of a map of the London Underground, but whether or not he actually does is unknown. His demeanour is often – if not always – serene and ethereal, and he usually speaks in a calm, pleasant voice even when Harry thought that he is actually furious.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: During the last year of his life, Dumbledore's right hand is scarred when he dons Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, which was cursed. Had Snape not intervened with a counter-curse, Dumbledore would have died much more quickly. Regardless, the curse left his hand blackened and dead-looking, and no amount of healing could repair the appearance. According to Snape, the curse would eventually spread itself from the contained hand, and Dumbledore was doomed to die in no more than one year's time. Whether this means the blackening dead-look appearance would spread throughout the entire body is unknown.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Considered the most powerful wizard in the world, Dumbledore is benevolent and wise, a good wizard in the style of Merlin. He exudes an aura of serenity and composure, rarely displaying intense emotions of anger or fear. Yet despite his benign nature, it is said that Dumbledore is the only wizard Lord Voldemort ever truly feared. Dumbledore is very eccentric and even slightly effeminate; he is very fond of knitting patterns and frequently wears flamboyant clothing (at one point, he is seen wearing a flowered bonnet). He is also known for his odd displays of whimsicality; he often uses humour to make people feel comfortable in his presence. As a supremely talented wizard, Dumbledore displays numerous examples of extraordinary powers. His abilities as a wizard are combined with a kind of cunning and subtlety of mind that allowed him to comprehend human nature and turn the better aspects of humanity (trust, love, and friendship) to Voldemort's disadvantage in particular.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: More than anything else, Dumbledore has a deep capacity for love, frequently reminding Harry that love was the greatest magic of all. Dumbledore believes in the good in everyone and insists on giving second chances. The greatest example of this is Dumbledore's relationship with Snape, in whom Dumbledore is willing to place a considerable amount of faith because he showed remorse. Dumbledore is highly perceptive and emotionally intelligent; his knowledge of a person's true personality goes beyond simply being a good judge of character. This is never more apparent than in his complex insights into Voldemort's psyche, which he pieces together with Harry to deduce where Voldemort's horcruxes are hidden.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Dumbledore's appearance hides a more steely aspect, as seen when apprehending Barty Crouch Jr who was masquerading as Mad-Eye Moody:


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: However, in spite of Dumbledore's many extraordinary qualities, he is a flawed character. According to Rowling, "Although Dumbledore seems to be so benign for six books, he's quite a Machiavellian figure, really. He's been pulling a lot of strings." In a 2005 interview, Rowling commented: "Immense brainpower does not protect you from emotional mistakes, and I think Dumbledore really exemplifies that." Dumbledore's greatest flaw, which he admits to Harry, is his desire for power. He eventually finds that those best suited for power are those who do not seek it. When he and Grindelwald first meet, they make plans to enslave Muggles and re-establish wizards as the natural rulers of the world. However, Dumbledore becomes disillusioned of this fantasy after his sister Ariana is killed during a duel between himself, his brother Aberforth, and Grindelwald.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Dumbledore is haunted by his sad family history. In particular, he is riddled with guilt over the circumstances surrounding the death of his sister. He feels enormous remorse for his selfishness in getting involved in the circumstances that led to her death, and is tortured for the rest of his life by the possibility that he might have been the one who cast the spell that killed her. When he looks into the Mirror of Erised, he sees himself redeemed in the eyes of his brother and his entire family alive and together.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Since a young age, Dumbledore has always shown great magical abilities. During his education at Hogwarts, Dumbledore was known as the most brilliant student to have ever stepped into the school, winning "every prize of note that the school offered", and in his N.E.W.T.s, "... did things with a wand [the examiner had] never seen before". Rowling has said that Dumbledore is primarily self-taught, although he "had access to superb teachers at Hogwarts," and, as far as his education is concerned, "Dumbledore's family would be a profitable line of inquiry." While he is not vain, Dumbledore also exhibits no false modesty, readily acknowledging that he is unusually intelligent and an exceptionally powerful wizard. He admits a number of


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: times to Harry in their occasional meetings in "Half-Blood Prince" that he makes mistakes, and since he is smarter than most men, his mistakes "tend to be correspondingly huger."


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Dumbledore is an expert at nonverbal spells and is famous as an alchemist who has worked with Nicolas Flamel, the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, and is credited with discovering the twelve uses of dragon's blood. His Patronus takes the form of a phoenix, a recurring symbol in the books.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: His knowledge of the most powerful kind of magic, love, is extensive. He taught Harry about its very essence, and the innate power of his ability to love his parents, which eventually helped Harry realise his destiny to kill Lord Voldemort.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: He is known to be able to conjure Gubraithian fire (magical everlasting fire). He has claimed to be able to become invisible without using an invisibility cloak, which is a powerful Disillusionment Charm. Dumbledore is also skilled in Occlumency and Legilimency. Dumbledore is an expert at Transfiguration too, having taught the subject before becoming headmaster. He frequently creates complex objects like sofa chairs out of thin air (or from less comfortable chairs). Dumbledore is also proficient at Charms and Potions; according to the obituary written by Elphias Doge, his papers were published in journals such as "Achievements in Charming" and "The Practical Potioneer". Dumbledore is famous for defeating Grindelwald, who is second on a list of Most Dangerous Dark Wizards of All Time only to Voldemort himself, in a "spectacular duel of legend", succeeding in doing so despite the fact that Grindelwald possessed the Elder Wand, which supposedly guarantees invincibility in duels due to its power. His skill at duelling is further shown when he calmly engages Voldemort in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", overpowering him and eventually forcing him to possess Harry to be spared from total defeat. (It is known in retrospect that Dumbledore possessed the Elder Wand when duelling Voldemort, having taken it from Grindelwald.) Unlike most wizards who make a distinct popping sound when they apparate, Dumbledore notably is able to apparate silently; the only other wizard shown to possess this skill is Voldemort. Dumbledore is known to be able to understand Mermish and Gobbledegook (Goblin language) and Parseltongue.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Dumbledore's office houses "a number of curious [...] instruments." Among them is a Pensieve, a stone receptacle used to store and review memories, which witches and wizards are able to extract from their heads as a type of fluid. Harry first discovers this device in "Goblet of Fire", and it is frequently used for flashback scenes throughout the remainder of the series. In the first chapter of "Philosopher's Stone", Dumbledore is seen using the Deluminator, a device for removing and later returning light, and for use as a homing device. It is confirmed in "Deathly Hallows" when the object is inherited by Ron that the Deluminator is of Dumbledore's own design. Dumbledore is the possessor and master of the Elder Wand, an extremely powerful object known also as the "Wand of Destiny" or the "Deathstick", and one of the Deathly Hallows. Unlike many of the wand's previous owners, Dumbledore keeps its identity a closely guarded secret. He also has a pet phoenix named Fawkes. It is revealed in "Philosopher's Stone" by Mr. Ollivander that Harry's wand carries a phoenix feather as its magical core and that particular phoenix only gave one other feather, the one in Voldemort's wand that gave Harry his scar. It is later revealed in "Goblet of Fire" that Fawkes was the phoenix whose feathers provide the magical core in Harry's and Voldemort's wands.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Through various interviews and discussions about the character, Rowling has established that Albus Dumbledore was born in July or August 1881 to Percival and Kendra Dumbledore. The character had previously referenced his brother Aberforth, and in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", it is revealed that Albus is three years older than Aberforth. The same book introduced their sister Ariana who, at six years old, suffers a vicious attack by three male Muggle youths who had witnessed her doing magic. Frightened, they first try to get her to repeat what they had seen, and upon her failure to recreate it due to her young age, they try to stop her from being "different". The severe trauma of the attack leaves Ariana unable to function socially or to properly perform magic again. It is not explicitly stated in the novel what form this attack took, but Percival is given a life sentence in Azkaban for tracking down and hexing the boys who traumatised his daughter. To prevent her being institutionalised in St. Mungo's Hospital, or hurting someone accidentally with her uncontrolled magic, Kendra moves the family to Godric's Hollow, and conceals Ariana's illness. Their wizarding neighbours and acquaintances assumed that Ariana is a non-magical squib, and that Kendra is hiding her out of shame.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: When Dumbledore and his friend Elphias Doge leave Hogwarts at the age of 18, they plan to take their "then-traditional" tour of the world. On the eve of their trip, however, Ariana accidentally kills Kendra during one of her uncontrolled outbursts of magic. Because Dumbledore's parents are absent (his father in Azkaban and his mother dead), he becomes the head of the family and it becomes his duty to put food on the table, as the family's misfortunes have left them poor. He is forced to remain in his house with Ariana while Aberforth completes his education. Aberforth knows of his brother's resentment and offers to care for Ariana himself, claiming that she prefers him to Albus, but Albus refuses, stating that it is his duty as the eldest child to care for the family.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: When Gellert Grindelwald arrives at Godric's Hollow, he and Dumbledore become immediate friends, and the two dream of a new world order in which wizards rule over Muggles "for the greater good". Dumbledore and Grindelwald suggest that they have to leave the Dumbledore home to carry on their plans, but Aberforth protested against this, as Ariana's condition would not allow her to be moved. The ensuing argument between Albus, Aberforth and Grindelwald turns into a duel, and as Ariana becomes more and more stimulated, she is caught in the crossfire and killed - though neither Albus nor Aberforth are sure whether one of them or Grindlewald caused her death. Stricken with grief and remorse, Dumbledore breaks ties with Grindelwald for good. According to the author, as a result of this, Dumbledore's boggart becomes Ariana's corpse. In "Philosopher's Stone", he also mentions to Harry that the deepest desire of his heart, revealed by the Mirror of Erised, is to have a pair of woollen socks, but in the seventh novel, Harry realises that he and Dumbledore see the same thing in the Mirror: their reunited families.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: The character of Albus Dumbledore has been compared to other archetypal "wise old man" characters. Dumbledore acts much like Merlin from "The Sword in the Stone", in the manner of an "absent-minded professor"; both Merlin and Dumbledore educate a story's main character in a castle. As writer Evelyn Perry notes, "Dumbledore resembles Merlin both personally and physically; he is an avid lover of books and wisdom who wears flowing robes and a long, white beard." Dumbledore has also been compared with Gandalf from J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings". Dave Kopel draws comparisons between Rowling's writing and John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" and states that, among the Christian symbols that Rowling has used in her books, Dumbledore acts like "the bearded God the Father" figure in which Harry puts his faith to be saved from Voldemort and his servants. IGN also listed Dumbledore as their fifth favourite "Harry Potter" character, saying that "[f]or a character that was introduced into popular culture a mere twelve years ago, it speaks volumes that Professor Dumbledore has already taken his place among the great mentor figures in literature and film". IGN's Joe Utichi called Dumbledore his third favourite "Harry Potter" character, calling the revelation that he wasn't so "infallible" one of the most heartbreaking themes of the final book. Actor Michael Gambon received some criticism for his louder, more aggressive, portrayal of the character, who is depicted as exhibiting a more subdued, unflappable calm in the books. This has been attributed to Gambon's policy of not reading the source material from which his films are adapted.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: As a main character of the series, major facts relating to Dumbledore have generated a vast number of essays and discussions. The death of Dumbledore at the end of "Half-Blood Prince" was discussed by fans and critics alike. A website named DumbledoreIsNotDead.com sought to understand the events of the sixth book in a different way and provided arguments to claim that the character did not really die. However, Rowling confirmed on 2 August 2006 that Dumbledore was, in fact, dead, humorously apologising to the website as she did so. Along with DumbledoreIsNotDead.com, a collection of essays, "Who Killed Albus Dumbledore?: What Really Happened in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? Six Expert Harry Potter Detectives Examine the Evidence", was published by Zossima Press in November 2006. In NextMovie.com's "Harry Potter" Mega Poll, Dumbledore's death was voted as the most unforgettable moment in the whole series.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: In the "Chamber of Secrets" DVD interview, screenwriter Steve Kloves stated that he considers Dumbledore a fascinating character because of the wisdom he provides, but he feels that "Dumbledore bears such a tremendous dark burden, and he knows secrets and I think in many ways he bears the weight of the future of the wizard world" and the "only way that he can keep that at bay, the darkness, is to be whimsical and humorous".


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Rowling's statement that Dumbledore was gay caused a great debate among critics. Melissa Anelli, webmaster of the fan site The Leaky Cauldron, told The Associated Press, "J. K. Rowling calling any "Harry Potter" character gay would make wonderful strides in tolerance toward homosexuality. ... By dubbing someone so respected, so talented and so kind, as someone who just happens to be also homosexual, she's reinforcing the idea that a person's gayness is not something of which they should be ashamed." "Entertainment Weekly"s Mark Harris said "her choice to make a beloved professor-mentor gay in a world where gay teachers are still routinely slandered as malign influences was, I am certain, no accident." The stars and director of the "Harry Potter" films were supportive of Rowling's revelation as well. A spokesperson for Stonewall praised Rowling, saying "It's great that JK has said this. It shows that there's no limit to what gay and lesbian people can do, even being a wizard headmaster."


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Some critics discussed the implications of this statement. "The New York Times" columnist Edward Rothstein said that "Ms. Rowling may think of Dumbledore as gay"; however, "there is no reason why anyone else should". The East Tennessee State University's student newspaper accused Rowling of lying, saying her answer was a publicity stunt. Michelle Smith quoted the Death of the Author principle, stating that Rowling's subsequent commentary is irrelevant to the understanding of the books.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: "Slate" quotes an attendee of the book talk who said, "It was clear that JKR didn't plan to out Dumbledore. She just cares about being true to her readers." Mike Thomas of the "Orlando Sentinel" said that upon reflection, Dumbledore was gay from the beginning, and that this neatly explains the behaviour of his character and his relationship with Grindelwald. Thomas notes the skill Rowling displays in writing a gay character without having to put a gay label on him.


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell stated that "It's good that children's literature includes the reality of gay people, since we exist in every society. But I am disappointed that she did not make Dumbledore's sexuality explicit in the Harry Potter book. Making it obvious would have sent a much more powerful message of understanding and acceptance."


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Writing for "Time", John Cloud, a gay man, argued that Dumbledore's silence in the books about his identity amounts to him being ashamed of his sexuality: "Why couldn't he tell us himself? The Potter books add up to more than 800,000 words before Dumbledore dies in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", yet Rowling couldn't spare two of those words to help define a central character's emotional identity: "I'm gay." We can only conclude that Dumbledore saw his homosexuality as shameful. His silence suggests a lack of personal integrity that is completely out of character."


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: Regarding Dumbledore's sexuality in the "Fantastic Beasts" series, Rowling said in 2016 that, "As far as his sexuality is concerned, watch this space".


title: Albus Dumbledore

text: In 2011, Dumbledore was one of eight British magical figures, which included the wizards Merlin (from Arthurian legend) and Rincewind (from Terry Pratchett's "Discworld"), and the White Witch (from "The Chronicles of Narnia"), that were commemorated on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail.


title: Korea

text: Korea (, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic of Korea) comprising its southern half. Korea consists of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and several minor islands near the peninsula. The peninsula is bordered by China to the northwest and Russia to the northeast. It is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan (East Sea).


title: Korea

text: During the first half of the 1st millennium, Korea was divided between three states, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, together known as the Three Kingdoms of Korea. In the second half of the 1st millennium, Silla defeated and conquered Baekje and Goguryeo, leading to the "Unified Silla" period. Meanwhile, Balhae formed in the north, superseding former Goguryeo. Unified Silla eventually collapsed into three separate states due to civil war, ushering in the Later Three Kingdoms. Toward the end of the 1st millennium, Goguryeo was resurrected as Goryeo, which defeated the two other states and unified the Korean Peninsula as a single sovereign state. Around the same time, Balhae collapsed and its last crown prince fled south to Goryeo. Goryeo (also spelled as "Koryŏ"), whose name developed into the modern exonym "Korea", was a highly cultured state that created the world's first metal movable type in 1234. However, multiple incursions by the Mongol Empire during the 13th century greatly weakened the nation, which eventually agreed to become a vassal state after decades of fighting. Following military resistance under King Gongmin that ended Mongol political influence in Goryeo, severe political strife followed, and Goryeo eventually fell to a coup led by General Yi Seong-gye, who established Joseon on 17 July 1392.


title: Korea

text: The first 200 years of the Joseon era were marked by relative peace. During this period, the Korean alphabet was created by Sejong the Great in the 15th century and there was increasing influence of Confucianism. During the later part of the dynasty, Korea's isolationist policy earned it the Western nickname of the "hermit kingdom". Korea was removed from Chinese suzerainty following the Qing dynasty's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, and Gojong of Korea subsequently proclaimed the Korean Empire in 1897. The unexpected victory of Japan in the Russo-Japanese War spelled the end of Russian imperial ambitions in Korea, and Japan was left with no other rivals in the region. The Korean Empire subsequently became a protectorate of Japan on 17 November 1905, and was later annexed by Japan on 22 August 1910.


title: Korea

text: Japan relinquished control over Korea after formally surrendering to the Allies on 2 September 1945, in the aftermath of World War II. The Soviet Union and the United States had agreed to partition Korea along the 38th parallel, with the Soviets occupying the north and the Americans occupying the south. These circumstances became the basis for the division of Korea by the two superpowers with two different ideologies, exacerbated by their inability to agree on the terms of Korean independence. The Communist-inspired government in the North received backing from the Soviet Union in opposition to the pro-Western government in the South, leading to Korea's division into two sovereign states in 1948: North Korea, and South Korea. Tensions between the two resulted in the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. With involvement by foreign troops, the war ended in a stalemate in 1953, but without a formalised peace treaty. This status contributes to the high tensions that continue to divide the peninsula. Both governments of the two Koreas continue to claim to be the sole legitimate government of the region.


title: Korea

text: "Korea" is the modern spelling of "Corea", a name attested in English as early as 1614. Korea was transliterated as "Cauli" in "The Travels of Marco Polo", of the Chinese (: "Kawlej", "Gāolì"). This was the Hanja for the Korean kingdom of Goryeo (), which ruled most of the Korean peninsula during Marco Polo's time. Korea's introduction to the West resulted from trade and contact with merchants from Arabic lands, with some records dating back as far as the 9th century. Goryeo's name was a continuation of Goguryeo (Koguryŏ) the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, which was officially known as Goryeo beginning in the 5th century. The original name was a combination of the adjective "go" ("high, lofty") with the name of a local Yemaek tribe, whose original name is thought to have been either *"Guru" (, "walled city," inferred from some toponyms in Chinese historical documents) or "Gauri" (, "center"). With expanding British and American trade following the opening of Korea in the late 19th century, the spelling "Korea" appeared and gradually grew in popularity; its use in transcribing East Asian languages avoids the issues caused by the separate hard and soft Cs existing in English vocabulary derived from the Romance languages. The name Korea is now commonly used in English contexts by both North and South Korea.


title: Korea

text: In South Korea, Korea as a whole is referred to as (, , ). The name references "Samhan", referring to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, not the ancient confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula. Although written in Hanja as , , or , this "Han" has no relation to the Chinese place names or peoples who used those characters but was a phonetic transcription (: *"Gar", : "Han" or "Gan") of a native Korean word that seems to have had the meaning "big" or "great", particularly in reference to leaders. It has been tentatively linked with the title "khan" used by the nomads of Manchuria and Central Asia.


title: Korea

text: In North Korea, Korea as a whole is referred to as (, , ). is the modern Korean pronunciation of the Hanja , which is also the basis of the word for Korea as a whole in Japan (, ), China (, ), and Vietnam (). "Great Joseon" was the name of the kingdom ruled by the Joseon dynasty from 1393 until their declaration of the short-lived Great Korean Empire in 1897. King Taejo had named them for the earlier Gojoseon (), who ruled northern Korea from its legendary prehistory until their conquest in 108 BCE by China's Han Empire. The "Go-" in Gojoseon is the Hanja and simply means "ancient" or "old"; it is a modern usage to distinguish the ancient Joseon from the later dynasty. It is unclear whether was a transcription of a native Korean name ( *"T[r]awser", "Trjewsjen") or a partial translation into Chinese of the Korean capital Asadal (), whose meaning has been reconstructed as "Morning Land" or "Mountain".


title: Korea

text: The Korean Academy claimed ancient hominid fossils originating from about 100,000 BCE in the lava at a stone city site in Korea. Fluorescent and high-magnetic analyses indicate the volcanic fossils may be from as early as 300,000 BCE. The best preserved Korean pottery goes back to the paleolithic times around 10,000 BCE and the Neolithic period begins around 6000 BCE.


title: Korea

text: Beginning around 300 BC, the Japonic-speaking Yayoi people from the Korean Peninsula entered the Japanese islands and displaced or intermingled with the original Jōmon inhabitants. The linguistic homeland of Proto-Koreans is located somewhere in Southern Siberia/Manchuria, such the Liao river area or the Amur region. Proto-Koreans arrived in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula at around 300 BC, replacing and assimilating Japonic-speakers and likely causing the Yayoi migration.


title: Korea

text: According to legend, Dangun, a descendant of Heaven, established Gojoseon in 2333 BCE. In 108 BCE, the Han dynasty defeated Gojoseon and installed four commanderies in the northern Korean peninsula. Three of the commanderies fell or retreated westward within a few decades, but the Lelang Commandery remained as a center of cultural and economic exchange with successive Chinese dynasties for four centuries. By 313, Goguryeo annexed all of the Chinese commanderies.


title: Korea

text: The Proto–Three Kingdoms period, sometimes called the Multiple States Period, is the earlier part of what is commonly called the Three Kingdoms Period, following the fall of Gojoseon but before Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla fully developed into kingdoms.


title: Korea

text: This time period saw numerous states spring up from the former territories of Gojoseon, which encompassed northern Korea and southern Manchuria. With the fall of Gojoseon, southern Korea entered the Samhan period.


title: Korea

text: Located in the southern part of Korea, Samhan referred to the three confederacies of Mahan, Jinhan, and Byeonhan. Mahan was the largest and consisted of 54 states. Byeonhan and Jinhan both consisted of twelve states, bringing a total of 78 states within the Samhan. These three confederacies eventually developed into Baekje, Silla, and Gaya.


title: Korea

text: The Three Kingdoms of Korea consisted of Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje. Silla and Baekje controlled the southern half of the Korean Peninsula, maintaining the former Samhan territories, while Goguryeo controlled the northern half of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria and the Liaodong Peninsula, uniting Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye, and other states in the former Gojoseon territories.


title: Korea

text: Goguryeo was a highly militaristic state; it was a powerful empire and one of the great powers in East Asia, reaching its zenith in the 5th century when its territories expanded to encompass most of Manchuria to the north, parts of Inner Mongolia to the west, parts of Russia to the east, and the Seoul region to the south. Goguryeo experienced a golden age under Gwanggaeto the Great and his son Jangsu, who both subdued Baekje and Silla during their times, achieving a brief unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea and becoming the most dominant power on the Korean Peninsula. In addition to contesting for control of the Korean Peninsula, Goguryeo had many military conflicts with various Chinese dynasties, most notably the Goguryeo–Sui War, in which Goguryeo defeated a huge force said to number over a million men. In 642, the powerful general Yeon Gaesomun led a coup and gained complete control over Goguryeo. In response, Emperor Tang Taizong of China led a campaign against Goguryeo, but was defeated and retreated. After the death of Tang Taizong, his son Emperor Tang Gaozong allied with the Korean kingdom of Silla and invaded Goguryeo again, but was unable to overcome Goguryeo's stalwart defences and was defeated in 662. However, Yeon Gaesomun died of a natural cause in 666 and Goguryeo was thrown into chaos and weakened by a succession struggle among his sons and younger brother, with his eldest son defecting to Tang and his younger brother defecting to Silla. The Tang-Silla alliance finally conquered Goguryeo in 668. After the collapse of Goguryeo, Tang and Silla ended their alliance and fought over control of the Korean Peninsula. Silla succeeded in gaining control over most of the Korean Peninsula, while Tang gained control over Goguryeo's northern territories. However, 30 years after the fall of Goguryeo, a Goguryeo general by the name of Dae Joyeong founded the Korean-Mohe state of Balhae and successfully expelled the Tang presence from much of the former Goguryeo territories.


title: Korea

text: The southwestern Korean kingdom of Baekje was founded around modern-day Seoul by a Goguryeo prince, a son of the founder of Goguryeo. Baekje absorbed all of the Mahan states and subjugated most of the western Korean peninsula (including the modern provinces of Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, and Jeolla, as well as parts of Hwanghae and Gangwon) to a centralised government; during the expansion of its territory, Baekje acquired Chinese culture and technology through maritime contacts with the Southern Dynasties. Baekje was a great maritime power; its nautical skill, which made it the Phoenicia of East Asia, was instrumental in the dissemination of Buddhism throughout East Asia and continental culture to Japan. Historic evidence suggests that Japanese culture, art, and language were influenced by the kingdom of Baekje and Korea itself; Baekje also played an important role in transmitting advanced Chinese culture to the Japanese archipelago. Baekje was once a great military power on the Korean Peninsula, most notably in the 4th century during the rule of Geunchogo when its influence extended across the sea to Liaoxi and Shandong in China, taking advantage of the weakened state of Former Qin, and Kyushu in the Japanese archipelago; however, Baekje was critically defeated by Gwanggaeto the Great and declined.


title: Korea

text: Although later records claim that Silla was the oldest of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, it is now believed to have been the last kingdom to develop. By the 2nd century, Silla existed as a large state in the southeast, occupying and influencing its neighbouring city-states. In 562, Silla annexed the Gaya confederacy, which was located between Baekje and Silla. The Three Kingdoms of Korea often warred with each other and Silla was often dominated by Baekje and Goguryeo. Silla was the smallest and weakest of the three, but it used cunning diplomatic means to make opportunistic pacts and alliances with the more powerful Korean kingdoms, and eventually Tang China, to its great advantage. In 660, King Muyeol ordered his armies to attack Baekje. General Kim Yu-shin, aided by Tang forces, conquered Baekje after defeating General Gyebaek at the Battle of Hwangsanbeol. In 661, Silla and Tang attacked Goguryeo but were repelled. King Munmu, son of Muyeol and nephew of General Kim Yu-shin, launched another campaign in 667 and Goguryeo fell in the following year.


title: Korea

text: Beginning in the 6th century, Silla's power gradually extended across the Korean Peninsula. Silla first annexed the adjacent Gaya confederacy in 562. By the 640s, Silla formed an alliance with the Tang dynasty of China to conquer Baekje and later Goguryeo. After conquering Baekje and Goguryeo, Silla repulsed Tang China from the Korean peninsula in 676. Even though Silla unified most of the Korean Peninsula, most of the Goguryeo territories to the north of the Korean Peninsula were ruled by Balhae. Former Goguryeo general or chief of Sumo Mohe Dae Jo-yeong led a group of Goguryeo and Mohe refugees to the Jilin and founded the kingdom of Balhae, 30 years after the collapse of Goguryeo, as the successor to Goguryeo. At its height, Balhae's territories extended from southern Manchuria down to the northern Korean peninsula. Balhae was called the "Prosperous Country in the East".


title: Korea

text: Later Silla carried on the maritime prowess of Baekje, which acted like the Phoenicia of medieval East Asia, and during the 8th and 9th centuries dominated the seas of East Asia and the trade between China, Korea and Japan, most notably during the time of Jang Bogo; in addition, Silla people made overseas communities in China on the Shandong Peninsula and the mouth of the Yangtze River. Later Silla was a prosperous and wealthy country, and its metropolitan capital of Gyeongju was the fourth largest city in the world. Later Silla experienced a golden age of art and culture, as evidenced by the Hwangnyongsa, Seokguram, and Emille Bell. Buddhism flourished during this time, and many Korean Buddhists gained great fame among Chinese Buddhists and contributed to Chinese Buddhism, including: Woncheuk, Wonhyo, Uisang, Musang, and Kim Gyo-gak, a Silla prince whose influence made Mount Jiuhua one of the Four Sacred Mountains of Chinese Buddhism.


title: Korea

text: Later Silla fell apart in the late 9th century, giving way to the tumultuous Later Three Kingdoms period (892–935), and Balhae was destroyed by the Khitans in 926. Goryeo unified the Later Three Kingdoms and received the last crown prince and much of the ruling class of Balhae, thus bringing about a unification of the two successor nations of Goguryeo.


title: Korea

text: Goryeo was founded in 918 and replaced Silla as the ruling dynasty of Korea. Goryeo's land was at first what is now South Korea and about 1/3 of North Korea, but later on managed to recover most of the Korean peninsula. Momentarily, Goryeo advanced to parts of Jiandao while conquering the Jurchens, but returned the territories due to the harsh climate and difficulties in defending them. The name "Goryeo" (高麗) is a short form of "Goguryeo" (高句麗) and was first used during the time of King Jangsu. Goryeo regarded itself as the successor of Goguryeo, hence its name and efforts to recover the former territories of Goguryeo. Wang Geon, the founder of Goryeo, was of Goguryeo descent and traced his ancestry to a noble Goguryeo clan. He made Kaesong, his hometown, the capital.


title: Korea

text: During this period, laws were codified and a civil service system was introduced. Buddhism flourished and spread throughout the peninsula. The development of celadon industries flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries. The publication of the Tripitaka Koreana onto more than 80,000 wooden blocks and the invention of the world's first metal movable type in the 13th century attest to Goryeo's cultural achievements.


title: Korea

text: Goryeo had to defend frequently against attacks by nomadic empires, especially the Khitans and the Mongols. Goryeo had a hostile relationship with the Khitans, because the Khitan Empire had destroyed Balhae, also a successor state of Goguryeo. In 993, the Khitans, who had established the Liao dynasty in 907, invaded Goryeo, demanding that it make amity with them. Goryeo sent the diplomat Seo Hui to negotiate, who successfully persuaded the Khitans to let Goryeo expand to the banks of the Amnok (Yalu) River, citing that in the past the land belonged to Goguryeo, the predecessor of Goryeo. During the Goryeo–Khitan War, the Khitan Empire invaded Korea twice more in 1009 and 1018, but was defeated.


title: Korea

text: After defeating the Khitan Empire, which was the most powerful empire of its time, Goryeo experienced a golden age that lasted a century, during which the Tripitaka Koreana was completed, and there were great developments in printing and publishing, promoting learning and dispersing knowledge on philosophy, literature, religion, and science; by 1100, there were 12 universities that produced famous scholars and scientists.


title: Korea

text: Goryeo was invaded by the Mongols in seven major campaigns from the 1230s until the 1270s, but was never conquered. Exhausted after decades of fighting, Goryeo sent its crown prince to the Yuan capital to swear allegiance to the Mongols; Kublai Khan accepted, and married one of his daughters to the Korean crown prince, and the dynastic line of Goryeo continued to survive under the overlordship of the Mongol Yuan dynasty as a semi-autonomous vassal state and compulsory ally. The two nations became intertwined for 80 years as all subsequent Korean kings married Mongol princesses, and the last empress of the Yuan dynasty was a Korean princess.


title: Korea

text: In the 1350s, King Gongmin was free at last to reform the Goryeo government when the Yuan dynasty began to crumble. Gongmin had various problems that needed to be dealt with, which included the removal of pro-Mongol aristocrats and military officials, the question of land holding, and quelling the growing animosity between the Buddhists and Confucian scholars. During this tumultuous period, Goryeo momentarily conquered Liaoyang in 1356, repulsed two large invasions by the Red Turbans in 1359 and 1360, and defeated the final attempt by the Yuan to dominate Goryeo when General Choe Yeong defeated a Mongol tumen in 1364. During the 1380s, Goryeo turned its attention to the Wokou threat and used naval artillery created by Choe Museon to annihilate hundreds of pirate ships.


title: Korea

text: In 1392, the general Yi Seong-gye overthrew the Goryeo dynasty after he staged a coup and defeated General Choe Yeong. Yi Seong-gye named his new dynasty Joseon and moved the capital from Kaesong to Hanseong (formerly Hanyang; modern-day Seoul) and built the Gyeongbokgung palace. In 1394, he adopted Confucianism as the country's official ideology, resulting in much loss of power and wealth by the Buddhists. The prevailing philosophy of the Joseon dynasty was Neo-Confucianism, which was epitomised by the seonbi class, scholars who passed up positions of wealth and power to lead lives of study and integrity.


title: Korea

text: Joseon was a nominal tributary state of China but exercised full sovereignty, and maintained the highest position among China's tributary states, which also included countries such as the Ryukyu Kingdom, Vietnam, Burma, Brunei, Laos, Thailand, and the Philippines, among others. In addition, Joseon received tribute from Jurchens and Japanese until the 17th century, and had a small enclave in the Ryukyu Kingdom that engaged in trade with Siam and Java.


title: Korea

text: During the 15th and 16th centuries, Joseon enjoyed many benevolent rulers who promoted education and science. Most notable among them was Sejong the Great (r. 1418–50), who personally created and promulgated Hangul, the Korean alphabet. This golden age saw great cultural and scientific advancements, including in printing, meteorological observation, astronomy, calendar science, ceramics, military technology, geography, cartography, medicine, and agricultural technology, some of which were unrivaled elsewhere. Joseon implemented a class system that consisted of "yangban" the noble class, "jungin" the middle class, "yangin" the common class, and "cheonin" the lowest class, which included occupations such as butchers, tanners, shamans, entertainers, and "nobi", the equivalent of slaves, bondservants, or serfs.


title: Korea

text: In 1592 and again in 1597, the Japanese invaded Korea; the Korean military at the time was unprepared and untrained, due to two centuries of peace on the Korean Peninsula. Toyotomi Hideyoshi intended to conquer China and India through the Korean Peninsula, but was defeated by strong resistance from the Righteous Army, the naval superiority of Admiral Yi Sun-sin and his turtle ships, and assistance from Wanli Emperor of Ming China. However, Joseon experienced great destruction, including a tremendous loss of cultural sites such as temples and palaces to Japanese pillaging, and the Japanese brought back to Japan an estimated 100,000–200,000 noses cut from Korean victims. Less than 30 years after the Japanese invasions, the Manchus took advantage of Joseon's war-weakened state and invaded in 1627 and 1637, and then went on to conquer the destabilised Ming dynasty.


title: Korea

text: After normalising relations with the new Qing dynasty, Joseon experienced a nearly 200-year period of peace. Kings Yeongjo and Jeongjo led a new renaissance of the Joseon dynasty during the 18th century.


title: Korea

text: In the 19th century, the royal in-law families gained control of the government, leading to mass corruption and weakening of the state, with severe poverty and peasant rebellions spreading throughout the country. Furthermore, the Joseon government adopted a strict isolationist policy, earning the nickname "the hermit kingdom", but ultimately failed to protect itself against imperialism and was forced to open its borders, beginning an era leading into Japanese imperial rule.


title: Korea

text: Beginning in 1871, Japan began to exert more influence in Korea, forcing it out of China's traditional sphere of influence. As a result of the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), the Qing dynasty had to give up such a position according to Article 1 of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which was concluded between China and Japan in 1895. That same year, Empress Myeongseong of Korea was assassinated by Japanese agents.


title: Korea

text: In 1897, the Joseon dynasty proclaimed the Korean Empire (1897–1910). King Gojong became emperor. During this brief period, Korea had some success in modernising the military, economy, real property laws, education system, and various industries. Russia, Japan, France, and the United States all invested in the country and sought to influence it politically.


title: Korea

text: The Russians were pushed out of the fight for Korea following the conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). Korea became a protectorate of Japan shortly afterwards. In Manchuria on 26 October 1909, An Jung-geun assassinated the former Resident-General of Korea, Itō Hirobumi, for his role in trying to force Korea into occupation.


title: Korea

text: In 1910, an already militarily occupied Korea was a forced party to the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty. The treaty was signed by Lee Wan-Yong, who was given the General Power of Attorney by the Emperor. However, the Emperor is said to have not actually ratified the treaty according to Yi Tae-jin. There is a long dispute whether this treaty was legal or illegal due to its signing under duress, threat of force and bribes.


title: Korea

text: Korean resistance to the brutal Japanese occupation was manifested in the nonviolent March 1st Movement of 1919, during which 7,000 demonstrators were killed by Japanese police and military. The Korean liberation movement also spread to neighbouring Manchuria and Siberia.


title: Korea

text: Over five million Koreans were conscripted for labour beginning in 1939, and tens of thousands of men were forced into Japan's military. Nearly 400,000 Korean labourers died. Approximately 200,000 girls and women, mostly from China and Korea, were forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military. In 1993, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono acknowledged the terrible injustices faced by these euphemistically named "comfort women".


title: Korea

text: During the Japanese annexation, the Korean language was suppressed in an effort to eradicate Korean national identity. Koreans were forced to take Japanese surnames, known as Sōshi-kaimei. Traditional Korean culture suffered heavy losses, as numerous Korean cultural artefacts were destroyed or taken to Japan. To this day, valuable Korean artefacts can often be found in Japanese museums or among private collections. One investigation by the South Korean government identified 75,311 cultural assets that were taken from Korea, 34,369 in Japan and 17,803 in the United States. However, experts estimate that over 100,000 artefacts actually remain in Japan. Japanese officials considered returning Korean cultural properties, but to date this has not occurred. Korea and Japan still dispute the ownership of the Dokdo islets, located east of the Korean Peninsula.


title: Korea

text: There was significant emigration to the overseas territories of the Empire of Japan during the Japanese occupation period, including Korea. By the end of World War II, there were over 850,000 Japanese settlers in Korea. After World War II, most of these overseas Japanese repatriated to Japan. Migrants who remained squatted in informal settlements.


title: Korea

text: In 1945, with the surrender of Japan, the United Nations developed plans for a trusteeship administration, the Soviet Union administering the peninsula north of the 38th parallel and the United States administering the south. The politics of the Cold War resulted in the 1948 establishment of two separate governments, North Korea and South Korea.


title: Korea

text: The aftermath of World War II left Korea partitioned along the 38th parallel on 2 September 1945, with the north under Soviet occupation and the south under US occupation supported by other allied states. Consequently, North Korea, a Soviet-style socialist republic was established in the north, and South Korea, a Western-style regime, was established in the south.


title: Korea

text: North Korea is a one-party state, now centred on Kim Il-sung's Juche ideology, with a centrally planned industrial economy. South Korea is a multi-party state with a capitalist market economy, alongside membership in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Group of Twenty. The two states have greatly diverged both culturally and economically since their partition, though they still share a common traditional culture and pre-Cold War history.


title: Korea

text: Since the 1960s, the South Korean economy has grown enormously and the economic structure was radically transformed. In 1957, South Korea had a lower per capita GDP than Ghana, and by 2008 it was 17 times as high as Ghana's.


title: Korea

text: According to R. J. Rummel, forced labour, executions, and concentration camps were responsible for over one million deaths in North Korea from 1948 to 1987; others have estimated 400,000 deaths in concentration camps alone. Estimates based on the most recent North Korean census suggest that 240,000 to 420,000 people died as a result of the 1990s famine and that there were 600,000 to 850,000 unnatural deaths in North Korea from 1993 to 2008. In South Korea, as guerrilla activities expanded, the South Korean government used strong measures against peasants, such as forcefully moving their families from guerrilla areas. According to one estimate, these measures resulted in 36,000 people killed, 11,000 people wounded, and 432,000 people displaced.


title: Korea

text: The Korean War broke out when Soviet-backed North Korea invaded South Korea, though neither side gained much territory as a result. The Korean Peninsula remained divided, the Korean Demilitarized Zone being the "de facto" border between the two states.


title: Korea

text: In June 1950 North Korea invaded the South, using Soviet tanks and weaponry. During the Korean War (1950–53) more than 1.2 million people died and the three years of fighting throughout the nation effectively destroyed most cities. The war ended in an at approximately the Military Demarcation Line, but the two governments are officially at war. In 2018, the leaders of North Korea and South Korea officially signed the Panmunjom Declaration, announcing that they will work to end the conflict.


title: Korea

text: In November 2020, South Korea and China agreed to work together to mend South Korea's relationship with North Korea. During a meeting between President Moon and China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, Moon expressed his gratitude to China for its role in helping to foster peace in the Korean Peninsula. Moon was quoted telling Wang during their meeting that “[the South Korean] government will not stop efforts to put an end (formally) to war on the Korean Peninsula and achieve complete denuclearization and permanent peace together with the international community, including China.”


title: Korea

text: Korea consists of a peninsula and nearby islands located in East Asia. The peninsula extends southwards for about from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the east and the Yellow Sea (West Sea) to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the two bodies of water. To the northwest, the Amnok River separates Korea from China and to the northeast, the Duman River separates it from China and Russia. Notable islands include Jeju Island, Ulleung Island, Dokdo.


title: Korea

text: The southern and western parts of the peninsula have well-developed plains, while the eastern and northern parts are mountainous. The highest mountain in Korea is Mount Paektu (2,744 m), through which runs the border with China. The southern extension of Mount Paektu is a highland called Gaema Heights. This highland was mainly raised during the Cenozoic orogeny and partly covered by volcanic matter. To the south of Gaema Gowon, successive high mountains are located along the eastern coast of the peninsula. This mountain range is named Baekdudaegan. Some significant mountains include Mount Sobaek or Sobaeksan (1,439 m), Mount Kumgang (1,638 m), Mount Seorak (1,708 m), Mount Taebaek (1,567 m), and Mount Jiri (1,915 m). There are several lower, secondary mountain series whose direction is almost perpendicular to that of Baekdudaegan. They are developed along the tectonic line of Mesozoic orogeny and their directions are basically northwest.


title: Korea

text: Unlike most ancient mountains on the mainland, many important islands in Korea were formed by volcanic activity in the Cenozoic orogeny. Jeju Island, situated off the southern coast, is a large volcanic island whose main mountain, Mount Halla or Hallasan (1,950 m), is the highest in South Korea. Ulleung Island is a volcanic island in the Sea of Japan, the composition of which is more felsic than Jeju. The volcanic islands tend to be younger, the more westward.


title: Korea

text: Because the mountainous region is mostly on the eastern part of the peninsula, the main rivers tend to flow westwards. Two exceptions are the southward-flowing Nakdong River and Seomjin River. Important rivers running westward include the Amnok River, the Chongchon River, the Taedong River, the Han River, the Geum River, and the Yeongsan River. These rivers have vast flood plains and provide an ideal environment for wet-rice cultivation.


title: Korea

text: The southern and southwestern coastlines of the peninsula form a well-developed ria coastline, known as "Dadohae-jin" in Korean. This convoluted coastline provides mild seas, and the resulting calm environment allows for safe navigation, fishing, and seaweed farming. In addition to the complex coastline, the western coast of the Korean Peninsula has an extremely high tidal amplitude (at Incheon, around the middle of the western coast, the tide can get as high as 9 m). Vast tidal flats have been developing on the south and west coastlines.


title: Korea

text: Korea has a temperate climate with comparatively fewer typhoons than other countries in East Asia. Due to the peninsula's position, it has a unique climate influenced by Siberia in the north, the Pacific Ocean in the east and the rest of Eurasia in the west. The peninsula has four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.


title: Korea

text: As influence from Siberia weakens, temperatures begin to increase while the high pressure begins to move away. If the weather is abnormally dry, Siberia will have more influence on the peninsula leading to wintry weather such as snow.


title: Korea

text: During June at the start of the summer, there tends to be a lot of rain due to the cold and wet air from the Sea of Okhotsk and the hot and humid air from the Pacific Ocean combining. When these fronts combine, it leads to a so-called rainy season with often cloudy days with rain, which is sometimes very heavy. The hot and humid winds from the south west blow causing an increasing amount of humidity and this leads to the fronts moving towards Manchuria in China and thus there is less rain and this is known as midsummer; temperatures can exceed daily at this time of year.


title: Korea

text: Usually, high pressure is heavily dominant during autumn leading to clear conditions. Furthermore, temperatures remain high but the humidity becomes relatively low.


title: Korea

text: The weather becomes increasingly dominated by Siberia during winter and the jet stream moves further south causing a drop in temperature. This season is relatively dry with some snow falling at times.


title: Korea

text: Animal life of the Korean Peninsula includes a considerable number of bird species and native freshwater fish. Native or endemic species of the Korean Peninsula include Korean hare, Korean water deer, Korean field mouse, Korean brown frog, Korean pine and Korean spruce. The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with its forest and natural wetlands is a unique biodiversity spot, which harbours eighty-two endangered species. Korea once hosted many Siberian tigers, but as the number of people affected by the tigers increased, the tigers were killed in the Joseon Dynasty and the Siberian tigers in the South Korea became extinct during the Japanese colonial era period. It has been confirmed that Siberian tigers are only on the side of North Korea now.


title: Korea

text: The combined population of the Koreas is about 76 million (North Korea: 25 million, South Korea: 51 million). Korea is chiefly populated by a highly homogeneous ethnic group, the Koreans, who speak the Korean language. The number of foreigners living in Korea has also steadily increased since the late 20th century, particularly in South Korea, where more than 1 million foreigners reside. It was estimated in 2006 that only 26,700 of the old Chinese community now remain in South Korea. However, in recent years, immigration from mainland China has increased; 624,994 persons of Chinese nationality have immigrated to South Korea, including 443,566 of ethnic Korean descent. Small communities of ethnic Chinese and Japanese are also found in North Korea.


title: Korea

text: Korean is the official language of both North and South Korea, and (along with Mandarin) of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province, China. Worldwide, there are up to 80 million speakers of the Korean language. South Korea has around 50 million speakers while North Korea around 25 million. Other large groups of Korean speakers through Korean diaspora are found in China, the United States, Japan, former Soviet Union and elsewhere.


title: Korea

text: Modern Korean is written almost exclusively in the script of the Korean alphabet (known as Hangul in South Korea and Chosungul in China and North Korea), which was invented in the 15th century. Korean is sometimes written with the addition of some Chinese characters called Hanja; however, this is only occasionally seen nowadays.


title: Korea

text: The modern South Korean school system consists of six years in elementary school, three years in middle school, and three years in high school. Students are required to go to elementary and middle school, and do not have to pay for their education, except for a small fee called a "School Operation Support Fee" that differs from school to school. The Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the OECD, ranks South Korea's science education as the third best in the world and being significantly higher than the OECD average.


title: Korea

text: South Korea ranks second on math and literature and first in Although South Korean students often rank high on international comparative assessments, the education system is criticised for emphasising too much upon passive learning and memorisation. The South Korean education system is rather notably strict and structured as compared to its counterparts in most Western societies.


title: Korea

text: The North Korean education system consists primarily of universal and state funded schooling by the government. The national literacy rate for citizens 15 years of age and above is over 99 per cent. Children go through one year of kindergarten, four years of primary education, six years of secondary education, and then on to universities. The most prestigious university in the DPRK is Kim Il-sung University. Other notable universities include Kim Chaek University of Technology, which focuses on computer science, Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies, which trains working level diplomats and trade officials, and Kim Hyong Jik University of Education, which trains teachers.


title: Korea

text: One of the best known artefacts of Korea's history of science and technology is the Cheomseongdae (첨성대, ), a 9.4-meter high astronomical observatory built in 634.


title: Korea

text: The earliest known surviving Korean example of woodblock printing is The Great Dharani Sutra. It is believed to have been printed in Korea in 750–51, which if correct, would make it older than the Diamond Sutra.


title: Korea

text: During the Goryeo Dynasty, metal movable type printing was invented by Choe Yun-ui in 1234. This invention made printing easier, more efficient and also increased literacy, which observed by Chinese visitors was seen to be so important where it was considered to be shameful to not be able to read. The Mongol Empire later adopted Korea's movable type printing and spread as far as Central Asia. There is conjecture as to whether or not Choe's invention had any influence on later printing inventions such as Gutenberg's Printing press. When the Mongols invaded Europe they inadvertently introduced different kinds of Asian technology.


title: Korea

text: During the Joseon period, the Turtle Ship was invented, which were covered by a wooden deck and iron with thorns, as well as other weapons such as the bigyeokjincheolloe cannon (비격진천뢰, ) and the hwacha.


title: Korea

text: In ancient Chinese texts, Korea is referred to as "Rivers and Mountains Embroidered on Silk" (, ) and "Eastern Nation of Decorum" (, ). Individuals are regarded as one year old when they are born, as Koreans reckon the pregnancy period as one year of life for infants, and age increments increase on New Year's Day rather than on the anniversary of birthdays. Thus, one born immediately before New Year's Day may only be a few days old in western reckoning, but two years old in Korea. Accordingly, a Korean person's stated age (at least among fellow Koreans) will be one or two years more than their age according to western reckoning. However, western reckoning is sometimes applied with regard to the concept of legal age; for example, the legal age for purchasing alcohol or cigarettes in the Republic of Korea is 19, which is measured according to western reckoning.


title: Korea

text: Korean literature written before the end of the Joseon Dynasty is called "Classical" or "Traditional." Literature, written in Chinese characters (hanja), was established at the same time as the Chinese script arrived on the peninsula. Korean scholars were writing poetry in the classical Korean style as early as the 2nd century BCE, reflecting Korean thoughts and experiences of that time. Classical Korean literature has its roots in traditional folk beliefs and folk tales of the peninsula, strongly influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.


title: Korea

text: Modern literature is often linked with the development of hangul, which helped spread literacy from the aristocracy to the common people. Hangul, however, only reached a dominant position in Korean literature in the second half of the 19th century, resulting in a major growth in Korean literature. "Sinsoseol", for instance, are novels written in hangul.


title: Korea

text: The Korean War led to the development of literature centered on the wounds and chaos of war. Much of the post-war literature in South Korea deals with the daily lives of ordinary people, and their struggles with national pain. The collapse of the traditional Korean value system is another common theme of the time.


title: Korea

text: Traditional Korean music includes combinations of the folk, vocal, religious and ritual music styles of the Korean people. Korean music has been practised since prehistoric times. Korean music falls into two broad categories. The first, Hyangak, literally means "The local music" or "Music native to Korea", a famous example of which is Sujechon, a piece of instrumental music often claimed to be at least 1,300 years old. The second, "yangak", represents a more Western style.


title: Korea

text: Confucian tradition has dominated Korean thought, along with contributions by Buddhism, Taoism, and Korean Shamanism. Since the middle of the 20th century, however, Christianity has competed with Buddhism in South Korea, while religious practice has been suppressed in North Korea. Throughout Korean history and culture, regardless of separation; the influence of traditional beliefs of Korean Shamanism, Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism have remained an underlying religion of the Korean people as well as a vital aspect of their culture; all these traditions have coexisted peacefully for hundreds of years up to today despite strong Westernisation from Christian missionary conversions in the South or the pressure from the Juche government in the North.


title: Korea

text: According to 2005 statistics compiled by the South Korean government, about 46% of citizens profess to follow no particular religion. Christians account for 29.2% of the population (of which are Protestants 18.3% and Catholics 10.9%) and Buddhists 22.8%. In North Korea, around 71.3% claim to be non-religious or atheists, 12.9% follow Cheondoism and 12.3% Korean Folk Religion, while Christians count for 2% of the population, and Buddhists as 1.5%.


title: Korea

text: Islam in South Korea is practised by about 45,000 natives (about 0.09% of the population) in addition to some 100,000 foreign workers from Muslim countries. While in North Korea it's estimated to be around 3000 Muslims, which is around 0,01% of the popultation. The Ar-Rahman Mosque is the only mosque in DPRK, and it is located at the Iranian Embassy grounds in Pyongyyang.


title: Korea

text: Koreans traditionally believe that the taste and quality of food depend on its spices and sauces, the essential ingredients to making a delicious meal. Therefore, soybean paste, soy sauce, "gochujang" or red pepper paste and kimchi are some of the most important staples in a Korean household.


title: Korea

text: Korean cuisine was greatly influenced by the geography and climate of the Korean Peninsula, which is known for its cold autumns and winters, therefore there are many fermented dishes and hot soups and stews.


title: Korea

text: Korean cuisine is probably best known for kimchi, a side dish which uses a distinctive fermentation process of preserving vegetables, most commonly cabbage. Kimchi is said to relieve the pores on the skin, thereby reducing wrinkles and providing nutrients to the skin naturally. It is also healthy, as it provides necessary vitamins and nutrients. Gochujang, a traditional Korean sauce made of red pepper is also commonly used, often as pepper (chilli) paste, earning the cuisine a reputation for spiciness.


title: Korea

text: Bulgogi (roasted marinated meat, usually beef), galbi (marinated grilled short ribs), and samgyeopsal (pork belly) are popular meat entrees. Fish is also a popular commodity, as it is the traditional meat that Koreans eat. Meals are usually accompanied by a soup or stew, such as galbitang (stewed ribs) or doenjang jjigae (fermented bean paste soup). The center of the table is filled with a shared collection of sidedishes called banchan.


title: Korea

text: Other popular dishes include "bibimbap", which literally means "mixed rice" (rice mixed with meat, vegetables, and red pepper paste), and naengmyeon (cold noodles).


title: Korea

text: Instant noodles, or "ramyeon", is a popular snack food. Koreans also enjoy food from "pojangmachas" (street vendors), which serve tteokbokki, rice cake and fish cake with a spicy gochujang sauce; "gimbap", made of steamed white rice wrapped in dried laver seaweed; fried squid; and glazed sweet potato. Soondae, a sausage made of cellophane noodles and pork blood, is widely eaten.


title: Korea

text: Additionally, some other common snacks include "Choco Pie", shrimp crackers, "bbeongtwigi" (puffed rice grains), and "nurungji" (slightly burnt rice). Nurungji can be eaten as it is or boiled with water to make a soup. Nurungji can also be eaten as a snack or a dessert.


title: Korea

text: Korea is unique among Asian countries in its use of metal chopsticks. Metal chopsticks have been discovered in archaeological sites belonging to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla.


title: Korea

text: North Korea and South Korea usually compete as two separate nations in international events. There are, however, a few examples of them having competed as one entity, under the name Korea.


title: Korea

text: While association football remains one of the most popular sports in South Korea, the martial art of taekwondo is considered to be the national sport. Baseball and golf are also popular. The board game Go, known in Korea as "baduk", has also been popular for over a millennium, first arriving from China in the 5th century CE; "baduk" is played both casually and competitively.


title: Korea

text: Taekwon-Do is Korea's most famous martial art and sport. It combines combat techniques, self-defence, sport and exercise. Taekwon-Do has become an official Olympic sport, starting as a demonstration event in 1988 (when South Korea hosted the Games in Seoul) and becoming an official medal event in 2000. The two major Taekwon-Do federations were founded in Korea. The two are the International Taekwon-Do Federation and the World Taekwondo Federation.


title: Korea

text: Hapkido is a modern Korean martial art with a grappling focus that employs joint locks, throws, kicks, punches and other striking attacks like attacks against pressure points. Hapkido emphasises circular motion, non-resisting movements and control of the opponent. Practitioners seek to gain advantage through footwork and body positioning to employ leverage, avoiding the pure use of strength against strength.


title: Korea

text: Ssireum is a traditional form of wrestling that has been practised in Korea for thousands of years, with evidence discovered from Goguryeo of Korea's Three Kingdoms Period (57 BCE to 688). Ssireum is the traditional national sport of Korea. During a match, opponents grip each other by sash belts wrapped around the waist and the thigh, attempting to throw their competitor to the sandy ground of the ring. The first opponent to touch the ground with any body part above the knee or to lose hold of their opponent loses the round.