of the two areas.
The geology and climate of the peninsula has resulted in numerous caves, deep canyons (many with vertical walls of solid granite), and waterfalls, some of them spectacular. The largest and most famous cave in Korea is the Tongnyong Gul, near the city of Yongbyon in North Korea. It is 5 kilometers long and has several chambers that are some 150 meters wide and 50 meters high.
There are no active volcanoes in Korea (although it is only a short distance from the Japanese archipelago, which is one of the most active volcanic regions on earth), but there is ample evidence of major eruptions in the past. There is also no history of strong earthquakes in Korea. Of the two-hundred-plus quakes recorded since 1905, only 48 of them caused measurable damage.
More than 3,400 offshore islands add to the ambience of Korean life and the picturesque beauty of the land and seascape.* The largest and most famous of these islands is Cheju Island, a semitropical volcanic uprising that is 85 kilometers from the southern tip of the Korean peninsula in the South Sea. Cheju (Cheh-juu) has the political status of a province.
Korea has a so-called temperate climate, in this case meaning that it has four distinct seasons, gets hot and humid in the summer (except in the mountains), and gets cold in the winter. The farther north on the peninsula, the longer and colder the winters. In winter the southeast coast is warmer than the west coast because of the warm Kuroshio Current that comes up from the Philippines. The northern portion of the East Coast is influenced by a cold Puk Han (Pook Hahn), or “North Korea” current that comes down from the Okhotsk Sea. In central and northern Korea, rivers freeze during the winter, some for three to four months. (The hot summer period is referred to as tae so [tay soh], or “big heat.” The coldest winter period is known as tae han [tay-hahn], “big cold.”)
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