technology, a highly efficient and useful way of making and maintaining a flexible prehistoric toolkit. The Palaeolithic also marks the beginning of a long period of plant and human interaction in which people undoubtedly adopted a number of wild plants for medicinal use.
Archaeological evidence from Gosan-ri in
Jeulmun Period (c. 3500 to 2000 BC) when small-scale cultivation of plants began.[2][3]
The earliest known constellation patterns in Korea can be found on dolmens dating back to 3000 BC.[4]
Farmers of the
intensive agriculture in the Korean Peninsula. Korea and adjacent areas of East Asia seem to have been a part of the domestication region of soybean (Glycine max) between 1500 and 500 BC.[2]Paddy-field
agriculture, a system of wet-rice cultivation, was also introduced into the southern Korean Peninsula during this period.
Widespread
archaeological evidence shows that after 850 BC the technology for heating homes changed. Before 850 BC pit-houses were heated using fire from various kinds of hearths that were dug into the floor of the pit-house. After 850 BC, hearths disappeared from the interior of pit-house architecture and was likely replaced with some kind of brazier-like technology in Hoseo, Honam, and western Yeongnam
.
Bronze objects were exchanged into the Korean Peninsula from the outside before 900 BC. However, the moulds for bronze casting from Songguk-ri and an increased number of bronze artifacts indicates that people in the southern part of the peninsula engaged in bronze metallurgical production starting from c. 700 BC. Several hundred years later iron production was adopted, and Korean-made iron tools and weaponry became increasingly common after approximately 200 BC. Iron tools facilitated the spread of intensive agriculture into new areas of the Korean Peninsula.
Until recently, Koreans were thought to have invented under-floor heating, a system they call "ondol".[5] It was first thought to have been invented by the people of the Northern Okjeo around 2,500 years ago. However, the recent discovery of a c. 3,000-year-old equivalent indoor heating system in Alaska has called current explanation into question.[5] The absence of prehistoric and/or ancient ondol features in the area between the two archaeological sites makes it unlikely that the two systems might have come from the same source.[5][6][7] However, there has also been hypothesis that whale-hunting people from the Korean peninsula have migrated to Alaska by sea during the time period, and this could explain the phenomenon.[8][9][10]
Three Kingdoms Period
The production of hard-fired stoneware ceramics, in which clay is vitrified in kilns at >1000 °C, occurred first in the Korean Peninsula during the Three Kingdoms Period.[11]
This period is notable for the establishment of industrial-scale production of pottery and roof tiles.[12] This involved the adoption of Chinese dragon kiln or climbing kiln technology sometime between AD 100–300.
One of very few examples of science and technology during the
Queen Seondeok's rule. The tower is built out of 366 pieces of cut granite which some claim represent the 366 days of the lunar year and has 12 base stones which supposedly represent the twelve months of the year. The design is said to be strongly influenced by Buddhism
.
The nine-story wooden pagoda of
metres
in height. Only its foundation stones remain today but they attest to the mammoth proportions of the original structure.
Goryeo Dynasty
During the
Choe Yun-ui in 1234.[13][14][15][16][17][18] This invention made printing easier, more efficient and also increased literacy, which observed by Chinese visitors was seen to be so important where it was considered to be shameful to not be able to read.[19] The Mongol Empire later adopted Korea's movable type printing and spread as far as Central Asia. There is conjecture as to whether or not Choe's invention had any influence on later printing inventions such as Gutenberg's Printing press.[20] When the Mongolsinvaded Europe
they inadvertently introduced different kinds of Asian technology.
During the late Goryeo Dynasty, Goryeo was at the cutting edge of shipboard artillery in world. In 1356 early experiments were carried out with gunpowder weapons that shot wood or metal projectiles. In 1373 experiments with incendiary arrows and "fire tubes" possibly an early form of the Hwacha were developed and placed on Korean warships. The policy of placing cannons and other gunpowder weapons continued well into the
King U which then built him a laboratory and a factory geared solely toward gunpowder. He invented the first Korean cannons and other weapons such as the Singijeon (Korean fire arrows) and later the Hwacha which were first built in 1377 and are widely considered to be the first true multiple rocket launchers.[21]
These weapons were a vast improvement over the previous rocket weapons with one of the key features was that it could fire up to 200 rockets at one time.
Joseon Dynasty
15th century
The Joseon Dynasty under the reign of Sejong the Great was Korea's greatest period of scientific advancement. In the first half of the 15th century, around 62 major accomplishments were made in various scientific fields. Of these, 29 came from Korea alone compared to 5 from China and 28 from the rest of the world.
Under Sejong's new policy Cheonmin (low-status) people such as Jang Yeong-sil were allowed to work for the government. At a young age, Jang displayed talent as an inventor and engineer, creating machines to facilitate agricultural work. These included supervising the building of aqueducts and canals. Jang eventually was allowed to live at the royal palace, where he led a group of scientists to work on advancing Korea's science.[citation needed]
Some of his inventions were an automated (self-striking)
udometer
.
The highpoint of Korean astronomy was during the Joseon period, where men such as Jang created devices such as celestial globes which indicated the positions of the sun, moon, and the stars.[22] Later celestial globes (Gyupyo, 규표) were attuned to the seasonal variations.
The apex of astronomical and calendarial advances under
King Sejong was the Chiljeongsan, which compiled computations of the courses of the seven heavenly objects (five visible planets, the sun, and moon), developed in 1442. This work made it possible for scientists to calculate and accurately predict all the major heavenly phenomena, such as solar eclipses and other stellar movements.[23]Honcheonsigye is an astronomical clock created by Song I-yeong
in 1669. The clock has an armillary sphere with a diameter of 40 cm. The sphere is activated by a working clock mechanism, showing the position of celestial objects at any given time.
Kangnido, a Korean-made map of the world was created in 1402 by Kim Sa-hyeong (김사형, 金士衡), Yi Mu (이무, 李茂) and Yi Hoe (이회, 李撓). The map was created in the second year of the reign of Taejong of Joseon
. The map was made by combining Chinese, Korean and Japanese maps.
The scientific and technological advance in the late Joseon Dynasty was less progressed than the early Joseon period.
16th-century court physician,
Oriental medicine
today.
The first soft
Smithsonian Museum
until 2007. The vest has since been sent back to Korea and is currently on display to the public.
Modern period
North Korea
In late 1985 North Korea's first integrated circuit plant became operational. By the early 1990s, North Korea was producing about 20,000 computers a year, reportedly 60% were exported and the remainder were mostly for domestic military use.[24] The development of a software industry started in the early 1990s.[24][25] In general, software development is on a high level and it could become a major export item in the future, along with world-class voice recognition, automation and medical technology.[26] North Korea has developed its own operating system, the Red Star,[27] and has an intranet network named Kwangmyong, which contains censored content from the Internet. North Korean IT specialists demonstrate a high degree of technological literacy.[28]
The
Paektusan and Unha rockets. So far, a total of three launch attempts were made, although none of them was successful.[29]
North Korea is also researching and deploying various military technologies, such as
Park Kye-jung, CEO of Ace Electronics, won the Gold and Silver prizes for his invention of motor and motor-equipped gear at the 23rd Invention and New Product Exposition (INPEX). Park took the gold medal with his invention of a special device that converts vibrations from a running car into electric power.[37] During the INPEX held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, sixteen Korean inventions received awards, including four gold prizes, three silvers, three bronzes and six special prizes. The Pittsburgh INPEX had inventors from 20 countries, including contenders from Australia, Germany, the United States, and 11 other countries, with a total of 160 submitted items.[37]
Seoul is ranked as the world's "leading digital city" and a "tech capital of the world".[38][39] South Korea is also among the world's most technologically advanced and digitally connected countries; it has the third most broadband Internet users among the OECD countries[40] and is a global leader in electronics, digital displays, semiconductor devices, and mobile phones.
The scientist Hwang Woo-suk, now officially disgraced, led a bio-engineering team that created three living clones of a dog that died in 2002.[41]
Korea also exports radioactive isotope production equipment for medical and industrial use to countries such as Russia, Japan, Turkey and others.[42]
Korea has a full-fledged space partnership with Russia
Arirang-2
satellites, both of which are equipped with surveillance cameras.
In robotics, KAIST competes with the Japanese company Honda with its humanoid robotHUBO. Honda's ASIMO and KAIST's HUBO lines are the two of very few humanoid robots that can walk.[44] The first HUBO was developed within a span of 3 years and cost US$1 million.[45]
In
photovoltaic power cell with energy efficiency of 6.5 percent.[46]
Results of a Statista study were released in August 2013 in regard to global smartphone penetration. After the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Korea was the nation with the second-highest penetration level—73.0% of the population.[47]
Following cyberattacks in the first half of 2013, in which government, news media, television station, and bank websites were compromised, the national government committed itself to training 5,000 new cybersecurity experts by 2017. The South Korean government blamed its northern counterpart for these attacks, as well as for incidents that occurred in 2009, 2011, and 2012, but Pyongyang denies these accusations.[48]
In late September 2013, a computer-security competition jointly sponsored by the defense ministry and the National Intelligence Service was announced. The winners will be announced on 29 September 2013 and will share a total prize pool of 80 million won (US$74,000).[48][needs update]
Today, South Korea is known as a launchpad for developers into a mature mobile market with very few technology constraints. New types of media or apps using South Korea's 4G and 5G internet infrastructure are increasingly being developed. South Korea enjoys a convergence of a dense and prosperous population, excellent infrastructure, and a strong cultural identity.[49] Republic of Korea was ranked 6th in the Global Innovation Index in 2022. [50]
^Yang, Hong-Jin. Astronomical signs of Korean tombs(PDF). Daejeon, Korea: Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Application of the control methods for radiant floor cooling system in residential buildings Building and Environment Volume 41, Issue 1, January 2006, Pages 60-73 [1]
^温突—朝鲜族民居的独特采暖方式 (in Chinese) 2000. Journal of Shenyang Archit Civil Eng Univ [2]
^ abKwanwoo Jun (23 September 2013). "Seoul Puts a Price on Cyberdefense". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved 24 September 2013.