Korea ?Land of the Morning Calm,? occupies a mountainous peninsula in northeast Asia bounded by Manchuria, the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan. According to legend, the first Korean dynasty, that of the House of Tangun, ruled from 2333 B.C. to 1122 B.C. It was followed by the dynasty of Kija, a Chinese scholar, which continued until 193 B.C. and brought a high civilization to Korea. The fist recorded period in the history of Korea, the Period of the Three Kingdoms, lasted from 57 B.C. to 935 A.D. and achieved the first political unification on the peninsula. The Kingdom of Koryo, from which Korea derived its name, was founded in 935 and continued until 1392, when it was superseded by the Yi dynasty of King Yi, Sung Kye was to last until the Japanese annexation in 1910. ,At the end of the 16th century Korea was invaded and occupied for 7 years by Japan, and from 1627 until the late 19th century it was a semi-independent tributary of China. Japan replaced China as the predominant foreign influence from 1896 to 1904. The Russian threat was eliminated by the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) and in 1905 Japan established a direct protectorate over Korea. On Aug. 22, 1910, the last Korean ruler signed the treaty that annexed Korea to Japan as a government general in the Japanese Empire. Japanese suzerainty was maintained until the end of World War II.,, ,The Potsdam conference in 1945 set the 38th parallel as the line dividing the occupation forces of the United States in the south and the Soviet Union in the north.,, ,A contingent of the United States Army landed at Inchon to begin the acceptance of the surrender of Japanese forces in the south on Sept. 8, 1945. Unissued Japanese printed stock was released during the U.S. Army?s administration for circulation in the southern sector.,, Rulers:,,, ,Japanese, 1910-1945,, Monetary System:,,, ,1 Yang = 100 Fun,, ,1 Whan = 5 Yang to 1902,, ,1 Won = 100 Chon 1902-,, ,1 Yen = 100 Sen,,