Abstract The Ordovician succession of the Korean Peninsula is part of the Cambro-Ordovician Joseon Supergroup exposed in the Taebaeksan Basin of South Korea and the Pyeongnam Basin of North Korea. This review summarizes the advances made on these successions over the past two decades, focusing on the Taebaeksan Basin. The Ordovician succession in the Taebaeksan Basin comprises the Taebaek, Yeongwol, Yongtan, Pyeongchang and Mungyeong groups, of which the Taebaek and Yeongwol groups have been studied in detail. These strata are mixed carbonate–siliciclastic deposits formed in peritidal to deep-subtidal environments. Sedimentological and palaeontological studies show that the Korean Ordovician succession represents local variations of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, exemplified by reef evolution, changes in sedimentary systems and changes in invertebrate fossil assemblages. Recent studies of the Yongtan, Pyeongchang and Mungyeong groups have demonstrated that these units are important for understanding the tectonic evolution of the Taebaeksan Basin. The Ordovician strata in the Taebaek Group are generally similar to those of the Pyeongnam Basin and North China; however, the Upper Ordovician–Devonian strata between the two Korean basins show palaeontological affinities to those of South China, perhaps recording the Permo-Triassic collision between the Sino-Korean (North China) and South China blocks.

Abstract The Ordovician was a key period in the biological and geological history of the Earth. ‘A Global Synthesis of the Ordovician System’ is presented in two volumes of The Geological Society, Special Publications series. The first volume (SP532) covers general aspects of the Ordovician and also includes the syntheses of the Ordovician successions of Europe. To provide a comprehensive global overview, this second volume (SP533) represents a journey through the Ordovician System around the world. Reviews of the Ordovician of North America include syntheses of Alaska, Greenland, Canada, the USA and Mexico, whereas the South American Ordovician is summarized in a specific chapter related to Argentina and neighbouring countries. The Ordovician System of Africa is presented in chapters covering the north and the south of the continent where significant Ordovician successions occur. Australia and New Zealand, as well as Antarctica, are visited in separate chapters. Asia provides the most complex Ordovician successions that are reviewed in chapters covering Turkey and the Levant region, the Middle East, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, India, SE Asia, China, Korea, and Japan. Our journey covers a great number of locations but, with many successions still to be fully described, our knowledge of the Ordovician of the world remains incomplete.