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Carrying lanterns, celebrants at the Chogye temple in Seoul pay tribute to Buddha's birthday.
Photograph by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
The South is not the North, and virtually everyone living on this lumpy, potato-shaped peninsula below the 38th parallel is grateful for that fact. • Myth has it that Korea was founded by the god-king Tangun, in 2333 B.C. • Roughly half its people call themselves Christians, the other half Buddhists. • Its culture is imbued with traditional Confucian values and beliefs. • The peninsula's division at the 38th parallel dates to 1948. • The war that ensued left more than three million Koreans dead or wounded. • South Korea today boasts a thriving democracy and surging economy.
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