Korea, traditionally known as the Land of the Morning Calm, is today a modern, bustling hub of East Asia. It is a peninsula jutting off of China, and Japan is only two hours away. Despite this close physical proximity to the neighboring countries, Korea has a distinctive culture of its own, which has developed during its 5,000 years of history. Visitors can expect to meet a lively population with its own language, writing system, architecture, cuisine, and many other manifestations of a unique cultural heritage.