Top 10 Korea facts

Korean War. For the initial months of the war, the P-80 Shooting Star, F9F Panther, and other jets under the UN flag dominated North Korea's prop-driven air force. The Chinese intervention in late October 1950 brought MiG-15 Fagot to battle, one of the world's most advanced jet fighters. MiGs were often steered by well trained Soviet pilots, so the aerial warfare continued till the end of the war.

4. Words "four" and "Death" have very similar pronunciation in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese. In East Asia many buildings do not have a 4th floor. Some high-rise residential buildings omit all floor numbers with "4", e.g., 4, 14, 24, 34 and all 40–49 floors.

In North Korea. The Arch of Reunification is a sculptural arch located south of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It was opened in August 2001 to commemorate Korean reunification proposals put forward by Kim Il-sung.

Korean. With over 78 million speakers, Korean has more speakers than all other isolated languages combined.

Soju is a clear, colorless distilled beverage of Korean origin. It is usually consumed neat, and its alcohol content varies from about 16.8% to 53% alcohol by volume (ABV). In 2000s, soju started to dominate the world's spirit market. Jinro soju has been the largest selling spirit in the world for more than a decade.

South Korea. With a population of 50.2M, South Korea is more than twice as populous as North Korea (24.5M).

In 1945, after WW2. The aftermath of World War II left Korea partitioned along the 38th parallel, with the north under Soviet occupation and the south under US occupation. The Korean War broke out when Soviet-backed North Korea invaded South Korea, though neither side gained much territory as a result.

Kim Il-sung gained military and political education in the USSR. During World War II, he served in the Red Army, commanding a division of Koreans. He was undoubtedly the weakest educated leader in the entire Eastern bloc.

In Korea. There are various styles of chopsticks in different cultures. In Korea, the chopsticks are made of metal, and are paired with a spoon. There are also differences in the eating etiquette.

Korean airlines. The Korean Air logo featuring stylized "taegeukgi" design was introduced on 1 March 1984. The same symbol is used in the Korean Flag.