CULTURE
Language
Korean is a Ural-Altaic language.
It is related to Japanese and remotely related to Hungarian, Finnish,
Estonian, and Mongolian. Although dialects exist, the Korean spoken
throughout the peninsula is mutually comprehensible. In the DPRK,
the Korea alphabet (hangul) is used exclusively, unlike in the
Republic of Korea where a combination of hangul and Chinese characters
is used as the written language.
Religion
Korea's traditional religions
are Buddhism and Shamanism. Christian missionaries arrived as
early as the 16th century but it was not until the 19th century
that they founded schools, hospitals, and other modern institutions
throughout Korea.
Major centers of 19th century missionary activity included Seoul
and Pyongyang, and there was a relatively large Christian population
in the north before 1945. Although religious groups exist in North
Korea, most available evidence suggests that the government severely
restricts religious activity.
