ABOUT KOREA | 한인문화회관

The meaning of the flag

Rose of Sharon

The national flag of Korea, ' Taegeukgi ', is composed of the Taegeuk pattern in the center and the four corners of the Taegeukgi on a white background.
The white background of the Taegeukgi symbolizes brightness, purity, and our nation's traditional love for peace. The Taegeuk pattern in the center symbolizes the harmony of yin (blue) and yang (yang: red), embodying the truth of Mother Nature that everything in the universe is created and developed through the interaction of yin and yang.
The four frets at the four corners show how yin and yang change and develop with each other through the combination of filial piety (爻: yin --, yang --).
Among them, Geon-gwae (乾卦) symbolizes the sky, Kun-gwae (坤卦) the earth, Gam-gwae (坎卦), water, and Yi-gwae (離卦) symbolize fire. These four trigrams are harmonized with the Taegeuk as the center.

Mugunghwa , which has been loved by the Korean people since ancient times, is a flower that symbolizes Korea and has the meaning of 'a flower that blooms forever and never fades'.
According to old records, the Korean people valued Mugunghwa as a flower of the kingdom of heaven even before the Gojoseon Dynasty, and Silla even called itself 'Geonhwahyang' (槿花鄕: Mugunghwa Country). China has long praised Korea as 'the country of the gentleman who blooms and loses the Mugunghwa'. Mugunghwa, which has been with our people for such a long time, has been loved by the people even more after the song “Mugunghwa, three thousand-ri, Gorgeous Gangsan” was inserted into the national anthem during the flowering period of the end of the Joseon Dynasty.

Dokdo (獨島) is an island in the southwestern part of the East Sea, between Ulleungdo and Oki Islands, and consists of a total of 91 large and small islands including Dongdo and Seodo. Dongdo of Dokdo is located at 131 degrees 52 minutes 10.4 seconds east longitude and 37 degrees 14 minutes 26.8 seconds north latitude, while Seodo is located at 131 degrees 51 minutes 54.6 seconds east longitude and 37 degrees 14 minutes 30.6 seconds north latitude.
The island is currently under effective control by the Republic of Korea, but it is a territorial disputed area in which Japan claims sovereignty over the island. The Republic of Korea generally adopts a 'quiet diplomacy' policy with respect to the Dokdo issue, except in cases where former President Syngman Rhee declared a peace line in 1952 and took a hard line against Japan. Japan claims that the island is illegally occupied by the Republic of Korea, and the Republic of Korea is demanding that the island be returned to Japan.

climate

It has a typical oceanic climate that is strongly influenced by turbulence, with an average annual precipitation of about 1,240 mm, an average annual temperature of about 12 °C[15], an average temperature of 1 °C in January, and an average temperature of 23 °C in August. The average annual wind speed is 4.3 m/s, with frequent northwesterly winds in winter and spring and frequent southwesterly winds in summer and autumn. There are frequent foggy days and over 160 days of cloudy weather throughout the year and about 150 days of rain or snow, so there is a lot of precipitation in winter. In other words, there are only about 45 sunny days in a year.