Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - korea

 geographical name  1. peninsula 600 miles (966 kilometers) long & 135 miles (217 kilometers) wide E Asia between Yellow Sea & Sea of Japan  2. (or Japanese Chosen) country coextensive with the peninsula; once a kingdom & (1910-45) a Japanese dependency capital Seoul; divided 1948 at 38th parallel into republics of North ~ (capital Pyongyang area 46,609 square miles or 120,717 square kilometers, population 22,646,000) & South ~ (capital Seoul area 38,022 square miles or 98,477 square kilometers, population 44,042,000)