The Korea Times is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea, along with The Korea Herald and Korea JoongAng Daily. It is part of the same newspaper group as Hankook Ilbo, a major Korean language daily. The group also publishes Sports Hankook and Seoul Economic Daily.

Since its inception on November 1, 1950, The Korea Times has seen itself as a gateway to South Korea for English-speaking visitors and the diplomatic corps. Its coverage includes politics, society, business, finance, culture and sports. In recent years, The Korea Times has also published weekly "Foreign Community" section, as well as a weekender on Friday. It also publishes licensed content from the Los Angeles Times World Report and The New York Times.

In May 2006, The Korea Times switched from the McCune-Reischauer system to the officially recognized Revised Romanization system for writing Korean place names. The switch aims to help readers avoid confusion arising from the differences between the two systems.

Korea (/kəˈriːə/ kə-REE-ə; Korean: 한국 Hanguk [hanɡuːk] or 조선 Joseon [tɕosʌn] – (see etymology) is an East Asian region that is divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan (East Sea), and separated from Taiwan to the south by the East China Sea.

Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggest the origins of the Korean people might have been Altaic language-speaking people from south-central Siberia,^{[dubious – discuss]} who populated ancient Korea in successive waves from the Neolithic age to the Bronze Age. The adoption of the Chinese writing system ("Hanja" in Korean) in the 2nd century BC, and Buddhism in the 4th century AD, had profound effects on the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

The Three Kingdoms of Korea was first united during the Silla dynasty under the king Munmu of Silla. The united Silla dynasty fell to Goryeo Dynasty in 935 at the end of Later Three Kingdoms of Korea era. Goryeo was a highly cultural state and created the Jikji in the 14th century, using the world's first movable metal type printing press. The Mongol invasions in the 13th century, however, greatly weakened the nation which was forced to become a tributary state. After the Mongol Empire's collapse, severe political strife followed and Goryeo was replaced by the Joseon Dynasty in 1388.