Joseon or Chosun (Korean: 조선; Hanja: 朝鮮; Revised: Joseon; McCune-Reischauer: Chosŏn; Chinese: Cháoxiǎn; Japanese: Chōsen) is a name for Korea, as used in the following cases: Hanja (lit. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced (a modified) McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... Korea (Hangul: 한국, Hanguk, used by South Korea; ì¡°ì„ , Joseon, used by North Korea) refers to South Korea (Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea) together, which were a unified country until 1945. ...

• As part of the name of several ancient kingdoms (including Gojoseon, Gija Joseon, and Wiman Joseon);
• During most of the Joseon Dynasty, when the country's full official name was Daejoseonguk (대조선국; 大朝鮮國; "Great Joseon Nation"), a name that is almost never used today;
• During the Japanese Colonial Period; and
• Today in North Korea.

See Names of Korea for more details on the changing use of the name. Go-Joseon, or Old Korea (2333 - 206 BC), was the first Korean kingdom. ... Gija Joseon (around 300 BC - 194 BC or 1126 BC - 194 BC) was an ancient kingdom that succeeded Go-Joseon. ... Wiman Joseon (194 BC - 108 BC) was the continuation of Go-Joseon, founded by Wiman. ... The Joseon Dynasty (alternatively, Choson or Chosun) was the final ruling dynasty of Korea, lasting from 1392 until 1910. ... In Korean history, the Period of Japanese Rule or Iljeong Sidae (일정시대; 日政時代; (Period of Japanese Rule) in Korean) describes the period from 1910 to 1945, when Korea (at that time called Chosun) was ruled by Japan. ... For complex historical reasons, there are three names of Korea in use today. ...

The Sino-Korean characters (Hanja) that make up the name (朝鮮) are often translated into English as "morning calm," hence Korea's English nickname, "The Land of the Morning Calm." However, this translation does not necessarily convey the correct meaning of the name, for the character 朝 can mean both "morning" (read as zhāo in Chinese) or "dynasty" (read as cháo in Chinese), while the meaning of character 鮮 may translate to "fresh" or "savory," often used to describe rarity. Another explanation interprets the name as "the land where the fresh morning comes," indicating the country's location to the east of China. Japan, whose name translates as "the origin of the sun" or "the land of the rising sun," is situated further east to Korea, but it was not until centuries later than the foundation of Gojoseon that Japan got its recognition as a nation. Sino-Korean describes those elements of the Korean language that come directly or indirectly from Chinese — namely, Hanja and the words formed from them (hanjaeo (한자어; 漢字語; Han-character words)). Hanja were first introduced into the Korean Peninsula during the Chinese Han (한; 漢) Dynasty (202 BC–AD 220) — largely... Hanja (lit. ... Go-Joseon, or Old Korea (2333 - 206 BC), was the first Korean kingdom. ...

It is also the name of two prominent newspapers: the South Korean Chosun Ilbo and the pro-North Choson Sinbo of Japan. Chosun Ilbo is one of the leading newspapers (if not the leading) in South Korea, with a circulation of 2,380,000 copies daily. ... The Choson Sinbo is a pro-North Korean newspaper based in Japan. ...

See also

• Rulers of Korea
• Names of Korea
• List of Korea-related topics
• Flag of Choson