Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Park or Pak (pronounced bahk) is a common Korean family name, whose origin goes back to King Park Hyeokgeose, the founder of the Silla dynasty in 57 BCE. When written with a Chinese character (Hanja), it uses a character that means "sincere," "simple" and "unadorned." When the case is based on the surname, it means plain. It is usually transliterated as either Pak (as in Pak Se Ri, a golfer) or Park (as in Park Chung Hee, former president of Korea, Park Chan Ho, a Major League Baseball pitcher, and Park Ji-Sung, a Manchester United player). Nine percent of the Korean population share this surname.