South Korea: Flag and Facts
South Korea's flag, the Taegukki, has a white field, a red and blue yin-yang circle in the center and a black trigram from the I Ching in each of the four corners.
- Official name
- Republic of Korea
- Capital
- Seoul
- Region
- Eastern Asia
- Population
- 51 million (2025)
- Languages
- Korean
- Currency
- South Korean won
- Area
- 100,210 km² (38,691 sq mi)
- People
- South Korean
- Calling code
- +82
- Highest point
- Halla-san 1,950 m
- Independence
- 15 August 1945 (from Japan)
- National symbols
- taegeuk (yin-yang symbol), Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), Siberian tiger
- Borders
- North Korea
About South Korea
Korea's first recorded kingdom, Choson, dates to around 2300 B.C. Three later kingdoms, Kogoryo, Baekche and Silla, competed for the peninsula until Silla teamed up with China to unite it in 688. The Koryo and Chosen dynasties ruled after that. Japan occupied Korea after wars with China and Russia, annexed it in 1910 and held it until 1945. Then a US-backed government formed in the south while a Soviet-backed one took the north.
Today about 51.5 million people live here, and roughly 10 million of them are in the Seoul area. Busan, Incheon and Daegu are the next biggest cities. Hills and mountains cover most of the land, with wide plains along the west and south coasts. Summers bring most of the rain, and winters get cold.
Did you know?
- Halla-san is the highest point in South Korea at 1,950 meters.
- The Siberian tiger and the Rose of Sharon both count as national symbols.
- Liberation Day on 15 August marks freedom from Japanese rule in 1945.
Want to test yourself? The random flag generator has a quiz mode, and the full flags of the world page shows every flag at once.
Questions about South Korea
What do the colors of the South Korean flag mean?
White stands for peace and purity. Blue is the yin side and red is the yang side of the central symbol.
What is the national anthem of South Korea?
It is Aegukga, which means Patriotic Song.
Sources
- CIA World Factbook, checked October 8, 2026
- REST Countries data (mledoze/countries), checked October 8, 2026
- Flag artwork: flag-icons (MIT), checked October 8, 2026
Facts are compiled from these open sources and rewritten in our own words. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.