Jiesan

Jiesan, officially the Republic of Jiesan (Korean: 제산민국), is a country located in the Korean peninsula sharing its borders with China to the north and North Korea, Isporos, and South Korea to the west. The Sea of Japan to the east seperates Jiesan from Japan. Its capital city is Kilgeo, one of the largest cities in the union and a major political center. Due to a highly mountainous terrain, Jiesan's population mostly resides on the coast and making the country one of the most densly populated regions in the world.

Jiesan is a presidential republic consisting of 6 provinces. Jiesan's history has shared its fate with Korean history when it began with the founding of Gojoseon in 2333 BCE by Dangun. Jiesan was founded in the early 10th Century. It was overthrown by the Goryeo Dynasty shortly after and remained annexed with the Goryeo Dynasty until its fall, after which it became independent once more. After liberation, the republic was established in 1948 as a democracy. After the Korean War, Jiesan's economy grew outstandingly, at a close pace with South Korea's. This rapid economic growth was called "Another Miracle on the Song River".

Jiesan is one of three of the founding members of the League of Nations.

Geography
Jiesan occupies the eastern portion of the Korean Peninsula, which extends some 680 miles (1,100 km) from the Asian mainland. This mountainous peninsula is flanked by the Yellow Sea to the west, and the Sea of Japan (East Sea) to the east. Its southern tip lies on the Korea Strait and the East China Sea.

The country's total area is 56,460.24 square miles (146,231.36 km²).

Geographically, Jiesan can be divided into three general regions: a northern region of high mountain ranges and narrow coastal plains; river basins, and rolling hills; a southwestern region of mountains and valleys; and a southeastern region dominated by the broad basin of the Nakdong River.

About three thousand islands, mostly small and uninhabited, lie off the western and southern coasts of Jiesan. Cheonjin-do is located about 50 kilometers (about 31 mi) off the southeastern coast of Jiesan. It is the country's largest island with an area of 273.63 square miles (708.7 km²).

Climate
Jiesan has a humid continental climate and a humid subtropical climate, and is affected by the East Asian monsoon, with precipitation heavier in summer during a short rainy season called jangma (장마), which begins end of June through the end of July. Winters can be cold: in Kilgeo, the average January temperature range is −9 °C to 0 °C (15 °F to 32 °F), and the average August temperature range is 22 °C to 34 °C (71 °F to 93 °F). Winter temperatures are higher along the southern coast and considerably lower in the mountainous interior. Rainfall is concentrated in the summer months of June through September. The southern coast is subject to late summer typhoons that bring strong winds and heavy rains. The average annual precipitation varies from 1,370 millimeters (54 inches) in Ilseon to 1,470 millimeters (58 inches) in Kilgeo. There are occasional typhoons that bring high winds and floods. The government is concerned of the impact of global warming on the natural disasters.

First and Second Dynasties
The First Jiesan Dynasty was founded after the fall of Silla in the early 933. Its first and only ruler was Emperor Tajin. Tajin remained in power for only two years until he was overthrown and the empire captured by the Goryeo Dynasty in 935. It remained annexed with the Goryeo Dynasty until its fall in 1392.

In 1392, King U sent two generals, Yi Seong-Gye and Seo Hwa-Gye, the latter of which was a descendant of Tajin, on a campaign to capture Liaoning of China. However, Yi Seong-Gye stopped at the border and rebelled. Upon learning about the rebellion, Seo Hwa-Gye staged his own rebellion and captured the city of Jindo, present-day Hwagye.

After killing the last three kings of Goryeo, Yi Seong-Gye established the Joseon Dynasty and sent his troops to defeat Seo Hwa-gye. Having already formed an army of his own, General Seo successfully prevented the invasion of General Yi's troops in the Invasion of Jindo. In 1393, Seo Hwa-Gye threatened to retaliate. General Yi, aware that his army had previously suffered a devastating defeat from General Seo, offered the eastern half of the Korean Peninsula for a peace treaty. In the same year, the two generals declared an armistice and the Jiesan Dynasty was re-founded with General Seo crowned as King Tajin II. The first 200 years of the Jiesan Dynasty was marked by relative peace and saw the creation of hangul by Sejong the Great of Joseon in the 14th century and the rise and influence of Confucianism.

In the latter of the 16th century, both Jiesan and Joseon were invaded by a newly unified Japan. During the Japanese invasions of the Koreas (1592–1598), centuries of peace had left both dynasties unprepared, and the lack of technology and poor leadership from the Joseon government and generals led to the destruction of much of the Korean peninsula. In 1593, Jiesan and Joseon agreed to be allies. In the first Japanese invasion (1592–1593), the army sent from China to assist Korea had a prescribed strength of 100,000, including 42,000 from five northern military districts and a contingent of 3,000 soldiers proficient in the use of firearms from Southern China. In the second Japanese invasion (1597–1598), Chinese army and navy involved were around 75,000 at the climax of the second campaign. In comparison, Japan's invasion army was depleted from 167,700 in the first invasion to 122,100 in the second invasion. Though outnumbered by the Japanese invasion force, however, continued Korean dominance at sea led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the rise of local militias, and the intervention of Ming China put Japan under great pressure to retreat in 1598.

Between the 17th and 19th centuries, Jiesan went through another period of peace while maintaining a larger army. In 1610, Jiesan sent Tongsinsa(royal embassies) to Japan for diplomatic exchange between the two countries. In the later half of the 19th century, King Tajin XVI, later to be the last ruler of the Second Jiesan Dynasty, formed an isolationist policy for protection against Western Imperialism before being forced to trade under Japanese colonial rule.

Japanese Rule
In the late 19th and early 20th century, various Western countries actively competed for influence, trade, and territory in East Asia while Japan sought to join these modern colonial powers. The newly modernised Meiji government of Japan turned to the Korean Peninsula, then in the sphere of influence of China's Qing Dynasty. The Japanese government initially sought to separate Jiesan and Joseon, then known as the Koreas, from Qing and make them a Japanese satellite in order to further their security and national interests.

In January 1876, following the Meiji Restoration, Japan employed gunboat diplomacy to pressure the Koreas to sign the Treaty of Ganghwa, which was regarded as an unequal treaty, which granted extraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens and opened three Korean ports to Japanese trade. The rights granted to Japan under the treaty were similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of Commodore Perry.

The outbreak of the Donghak Peasant Revolution in 1894 changed Japanese policy toward the Koreas. The Koreas had negotiated with Russia to counterbalance Japan's growing influence. So Chae-pil of Joseon and Protestant missionaries introduced Western political thought to the Koreas. Protesters took to the streets, demanding democratic reforms and an end to Japanese and Russian influence in Korean affairs. The two Korean governments asked for Chinese assistance in ending the revolt. The Meiji leaders decided upon military intervention to challenge China. When China sent troops into the Korean peninsula, Japan sent its own troops to the Koreas. Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War, and China signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Among its many stipulations, the treaty recognized "the full and complete independence and autonomy of the Koreas," thus ending the Koreas' protectorate relationship with the Chinese Qing dynasty, leading to the proclamation of the Korean, formerly Joseon, and Jiesanese Empires in 1897.

On October 8, 1895, Empress Myeongseong was assassinated by Japanese agents. Reacting to the murder of the Empress, father of King Daewongun returned to the royal palace on the same day. On February 11 1896, King Gojong and his crown prince moved from the Gyeongbokgung palace to the Russian legation in Seoul, from which they governed for about one year, an event known as Joseon royal refuge at the Russian legation.

On November 2, 1895, the Japanese government forced King Tajin XVI and his family to be exiled in Russia. On April 15, 1896, the entire family, along with Crown Prince Seo Jin-Pyo, were found in their home in the city of Vladivostok massacred to death.

The strategic rivalry between Russia and Japan exploded in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, won by Japan. Under the peace treaty signed in September 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth, Russia acknowledged Japan's "paramount political, military, and economic interest" in Korea.

In May 1910, the Minister of the Army of Japan, Terauchi Masatake, was given a mission to finalize Japanese control over the Koreas after previous treaties had made the Koreas a protectorate of Japan. On August 22, 1910, the Koreas were effectively annexed by Japan with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty signed by Lee Wan-Yong, Prime Minister of Joseon, Kang Ji-Sun, Prime Minister of Jiesan, and Terauchi Masatake, who became the first Japanese Governor-General of Korea.

During the "forced occupation", many liberation movements took place, most notably the March 1 and August 1 Movements of 1919. In the first movement, a declaration of independence was read in Seoul, while the latter took place in Kilgeo for the independence of Jiesan. Following the Japanese defeat in 1945, the Soviet Union controlled the northwestern half while the United States controlled the southern and eastern half. Despite the initial plan of a unified Korea in the 1943 Cairo Declaration, escalating Cold War antagonism eventually led to the establishment of two separate governments, each with its own ideology, leading to Korea's division into two political entities: North Korea and South Korea.

Republic
On September 15, 1948, the United States formally recognized the Republic of Jiesan. On September 30, the first presidential election took place and was won by Kim Yi Jeong, the first president of Jiesan.

During the Korean War, North Korea invaded Jiesan. The Jiesanese government immediately allied with South Korea and its allies shortly thereafter. In the summer of 1953, near the end of the war, Jiesan regained its territory, however, the two Koreas failed to unify following the cease-fire armstice.

As of today, civilian border movement between North Korea is prohibited and is under heavy military supervision due to threats of invasion by the North Korean government. However, South Koreans ans Isporosans enjoy border control free entrance into Jiesan.

Thanks to the massive infrastructure development by the Japanese during WWII, Jiesan's economy prospered after the war. During the 1980s, Jiesan's economy transitioned into a manufacturing-based economy much like South Korea's. It became the third fastest growing economy in Asia after Japan and South Korea. As South Korea's economic success was dubbed the "Miracle on the Han River", Jiesan's was called "Another Miracle on the Song River".

Government
The government is organized as a presidential-unitary republic, where the President functions as head of state, the head of government, and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president is elected by popular vote to a 4-year term, during which he or she appoints and presides over the cabinet of secretaries.

Jiesan is a democracy consisting of three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. The executive branch is led by the President. The legislative branch, known as the Parliament, is a bicameral legislature which consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives; members of the former are elected at large and those of the latter by geographical district. The 24 senators, three from each province, serve 4-year terms, while the House of Representatives comprises 225 members serving 2-year terms.

The judicial branch of government is headed by the Supreme Court, with a Chief Justice as its head and 14 associate justices, all appointed by the President from nominations submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council. Other courts include the Court of Appeals, the Provincial Trial Courts and the Metropolitan Trial Courts.

Economy
Jiesan is a trillion-dollar major economic power. It has a capitalist mixed economy that is fueled by mainly the export of manufactured goods and an advanced infrastructure. Jiesan has the largest national GDP in the union and the third largest per capita. It's capital, Kilgeo, is among the union's top international financial centres. The catalyst for Jiesan's rapid economic growth was the government's increasing focus on manufacture labour-intensive goods, which was followed at a close pace by the decrease of extortion among government officials following a series of successful compromises within the governing system beginning in the 1950s. Today, the major industries of Jiesan are automobiles and electronics.

In the first half of the 20th century, Jiesan was one of the poorest countries in the world due to an unstable economy marred by high political corruption. Its infrastructure was highly undeveloped since there virtually was little budget for construction after massive bribes made by government officials. During the occupation, the Japanese government constructed much of Jiesan's raiways for the purpose extracting the land's natural resources. After liberation, Jiesan experienced five straight decades of rapid economic growth, one of the fastest ever seen in history.

Starting in the mid 1950s following the Korean War, Former President Lee Wang-Jin embarked on a series of plans that transformed Jiesan from a farming and fishing based economy into one of the world's most high-tech industrial powers. Emphasis shifted to trade which resulted in a boom in trade and investment. Rapid expansion in light and heavy industries brought Jiesan to the top three largest economies among the union members in 1985 and the largest by turn of the 21st century.

Culture
The contemporary culture of Jiesan is heavily dominated by technology, including feature-rich cell phones and pervasive online gaming. Jiesan today has one of the highest penetration of high-speed internet access to households in the union. Digital multimedia broadcasting, a system very few nations have, now allows the Jiesanese to watch television on their cell phones.

However, the country still retains centuries-old customs and traditions, such as its unique cuisine and ancestor worship.

Recently, Jiesanese pop culture has become very popular in Asia. Television dramas like Can't Get You Outa My Head have found success in countries such as Japan. Due to Jiesan's close cultural ties with South Korea, each nation's major broadcasting networks are available in both countries. Jiesan also maintains a robust music industry, heavily influenced by popular music from South Korea and the United States.

Media
Jiesan was one of the first nations in the League to broadcast on television. The broadcasting corporation Radio Television Arts is the largest commercial television broadcaster in the union. Founded in the early 60's, it grew from broadcasting radio into a unionwide media conglomerate.

It's dramas, along with South Korean programming, have also crossed borders into foreign territories as fans mostly residing in Southeast Asia continue to support the Korean pop culture phenomenon known as Hallyu or Korean wave.