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South Korea
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A country of eastern Asia at the southern end of the Korean peninsula. Korea was divided into a northern Soviet zone and a southern American zone after World War II, and Soviet resistance to reunification led to the establishment in 1948 of two separate countries, with the Korean War (1950-1953) leaving the peninsula divided along much the same line as before. Ruled until 1993 by a series of authoritarian military leaders, South Korea developed a prosperous economy on the strength of trade ties with Japan and the United States. Seoul is the capital and the largest city.

South Korean adj. & n.
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South Korea

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.