Names of Korea
For all these reasons, in addition to the sparse and sometimes contradictory written records, it is often difficult to determine the original meanings or pronunciations of ancient names.
[citation needed] Possibly the Chinese characters phonetically transcribed a native Korean name, perhaps pronounced something like "Jyusin".
Some speculate that it also corresponds to Chinese references to 肅愼 (숙신, Suksin (ethnic group)), 稷愼 (직신, Jiksin) and 息愼 (식신, Siksin), although these latter names probably describe the ancestors of the Jurchen people.
[citation needed] Around the time of Gojoseon's fall, various chiefdoms in southern Korea grouped into confederacies, collectively called the Samhan (삼한; 三韓; lit.
[5] In a letter to an imperial tutor of the Tang dynasty, Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn equated Byeonhan to Baekje, Jinhan to Silla, and Mahan to Goguryeo.
[5] In his Ten Mandates to his descendants, Wang Geon declared that he had unified the Three Han (Samhan), referring to the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
[8] For example, the epitaph of Go Hyeon (고현; 高玄), a Tang dynasty general of Goguryeo origin who died in 690, calls him a "Liaodong Samhan man" (요동 삼한인; 遼東 三韓人).
It, too, was a native Korean word, probably pronounced something like "Guri", transcribed with various hanja characters: 高句麗, 高勾麗, or 高駒麗 (고구려, Goguryeo), 高麗 (고려, Goryeo), 高離 (고리, Gori), or 句麗 (구려, Guryeo).
Through the Silk Road trade routes, Persian and Arab merchants brought knowledge about Silla and Goryeo to India and the Middle East.
Goryeo was transliterated into Italian as "Cauli", the name Marco Polo used when mentioning the country in his Travels, derived from the Chinese form Gāolí.
In 1392, a new dynasty established by a military coup revived the name Joseon (조선; 朝鮮; Chosŏn), after the ancient state Gojoseon.
Han had been selected in reference to Samhan, specifically the Three Kingdoms of Korea, not the ancient confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula.
During this period, many different groups outside of Korea fought for independence, the most notable being the Daehanminguk Imsi Jeongbu (대한민국 임시정부; 大韓民國臨時政府; lit.
[15][16] Meanwhile, the North became Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk (조선민주주의인민공화국; 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國), translated in English as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Democratic Republic", on the other hand, was associated with Mao Zedong's concept of New Democracy, which influenced Kim Tu-bong of the New People's Party of Korea.
This was echoed by what the true authorities of the country, the Soviet Civil Administration, prescribed, albeit in different order: "People's-Democratic Republic" (Russian: Народно-Демократическая Республика).
The term Pukchosŏn, however, is rarely used in the north, although it may be found in pre-war sources, such as the Song of General Kim Il Sung.
The Korean Peninsula is called Hanbando (한반도, 韓半島) in the South and Chosŏn Bando (조선반도, 朝鮮半島) in the North.
In Chinese-speaking areas such as China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Singapore, different naming conventions on several terms have been practiced according to their political proximity to whichever Korean government although there is a growing trend for convergence.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China under the Democratic Progressive Party Government considered North and South Koreas two separate countries.
While academia mostly prefers Chōsengo, Kankokugo became more and more common in non-academic fields, thanks to the economic and cultural presence of South Korea.
Urimaru (ウリマル), a direct transcription of uri mal (우리말, "our language") is sometimes used by Korean residents in Japan, as well as by KBS World Radio.
Khalkh Mongolian солгой "left-handed, a lefty; out of tune, sounding wrong"), which may in turn be from Turkic *sōl "left.
Prior to unification, North Vietnam used Bắc Triều Tiên (北朝鮮; Bukchosŏn) and Nam Triều Tiên (南朝鮮; Namjoseon) while South Vietnam used Bắc Hàn (北韓; Bukhan) and Nam Hàn (南韓; Namhan) for North and South Korea, respectively.
The official names of both entities are also used by organizations such as United Nations, International Olympic Committee and media such as the Associated Press, China Global Television Network (CGTN), and several others.
These included "Cauli" (Marco Polo's rendering of Goryeo), Caule, Core, Cory, Caoli, and Corai as well as two spellings that survived into the 19th century, Corea and Korea.
The modern spelling, "Korea", first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Company's Hendrick Hamel.
[33] By the first two decades of the 20th century, "Korea" began to be seen more frequently than "Corea" – a change that coincided with Japan's consolidation of its grip over the peninsula.
However, the spelling "Corea" was occasionally used even under full colonial rule and both it and "Korea" were largely eschewed in favor of the Japanese-derived "Chosen",[28] which itself was derived from "Joseon".
Many Goryeoin are living in the CIS, including an estimated 106,852 in Russia, 22,000 in Uzbekistan, 20,000 in Kyrgyzstan, 17,460 in Kazakhstan, 8,669 in Ukraine, 2,000 in Belarus, 350 in Moldova, 250 in Georgia, 100 in Azerbaijan, and 30 in Armenia.
