South Korea is a country.
South Korea , officially the Republic of Korea ( ROK ; ) , is a sovereign state in East Asia , constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula . Home of Samsung , LG and Hyundai-Kia , South Korea was named the world 's most innovative country for 4 consecutive years since 2014 in the Bloomberg Innovation Index , ranking first in business R&D intensity , manufacturing value-added , patents filed per GDP , second in higher education efficiency and fourth in high-tech density and researcher concentration . In 2005 , it became the world 's first country to fully transition to high-speed Internet and today it has the world 's fastest Internet speed and highest smartphone ownership , ranking first in ICT Development , e-Government and 4G LTE coverage .