Greater Republic of Korea
Capital: Gaesong, Seoul, Pyongyang
Government Type: "Corporatist Republic"
Head of State: President Ahn Jung-Oak?
Head of Government: Executive Yoon Mi-Ae?
Language: Korean, English, Chinese
Population: 115 million, not including Occupied Japan
Formed:
The Greater Republic of Korea is one of the wealthiest nations on Earth in the year 2748 despite the trauma of a major war fought on its soil. Housing many massive multinational conglomerates that effectively rule the emasculated government, the entire peninsula has recently underwent massive restructuring of its security apparatus. While they maintain a formidable military in their own right, they still largely survive by playing off the rivalries of China? and the Union of Russian Federations and their interests on the highly strategic peninsula. Structural weaknesses remained after Korean unification centuries ago, allowing the corporations to bail out the government and effectively seize control.
The Koreans were critical in providing logistical support for the joint invasion of Japan after the United States pulled out of the East Asian theatre, only to be offered a very modest sized sphere of influence on the islands despite their important role. Resentful of this fact, the Korean conglomerates had rapidly built up a pervasive economic infrastructure designed to extract wealth from much of Far East Russia, Chinese Manchuria, the Japanese Islands, and the Pacific Rim to as far as Madagascar and Arabia. They provided some financing for the Russian space program and considerable technological assistance in the construction of the Chinese Marco Polo. The modern corporate state considers the so-called 'Yokohama Betrayal' to be one of the foundational events alongside the doctrine of Corporate Extraterritoriality?.
The Southern half of the peninsula is the hub of massive information industry conglomerates where nearly half of the world's network chatter goes through and serves as a critical backbone to several planetary information networks. The Northern half of the peninsula, relatively poorer in contrast and far more war-ravaged, is the heart of industrial manufacturing, specializing in the development of robotics and consumer electronics. Korea is also the heart of the cybernetics and genetic engineering industries, a social stigma or even taboo in many nations on Earth outside of highly regulated military applications.
In the guise of security, life in Korea is highly regulated and regimented, with a near-constant surveillance of the general populace.
The financial and cultural hub remains in Seoul, with the central government located in Gaesong. Pyongyang is the heart of manufacturing. Korea is regarded as a major regional power and a visible player in the international arena. Korean ambassador Jung Ki-Nuk is the designated deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Korean interests on Persephone are relatively small compared to the major powers but disproportionate. The Korean population on the colony only account for roughly 1-2% of the total population but they control nearly 10-12% of the total economic output of the colony. This figure is not inclusive of multi-national corporate economic activity under Yoonjin-Rhodes (Korea and EU), Yoonjin-STX Shipping (Korea), and Goguryeo Express (Korea and EU).