Korea, South

Airports

total: 104 usable: 95 with permanent-surface runways: 61 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 23 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 18

Highways

total: 63,201 km paved: expressways 1,551 km unpaved: NA undifferentiated: national highway 12,190 km; provincial, local roads 49,460 km (1991)

Inland waterways

1,609 km; use restricted to small native craft

Merchant marine

417 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,425,920 GRT/10,535,850 DWT, bulk 123, cargo 132, chemical tanker 16, combination bulk 2, combination ore/oil 2, container 60, liquefied gas 13, multifunction large-load carrier 1, oil tanker 47, refrigerated cargo 11, short-sea passenger 1, vehicle carrier 9

Pipelines

petroleum products 455 km

Ports

Pusan, Inch'on, Kunsan, Mokp'o, Ulsan

Railroads

3,091 km total (1991); 3,044 km 1.435 meter standard gauge, 47 km 0.610-meter narrow gauge, 847 km double track; 525 km electrified, government owned

Telecommunications

excellent domestic and international services; 13,276,449 telephone subscribers; broadcast stations - 79 AM, 46 FM, 256 TV (57 of 1 kW or greater); satellite earth stations - 2 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT

Branches

Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $13.0 billion, 3.6% of GNP (1994 est.)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 13,435,598; fit for military service 8,623,325; reach military age (18) annually 417,055 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for 8% of GNP and employs 21% of work force (including fishing and forestry); principal crops - rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; livestock and livestock products - cattle, hogs, chickens, milk, eggs; self-sufficient in food, except for wheat; fish catch of 2.9 million metric tons, seventh-largest in world

Budget

revenues: $48.4 billion expenditures: $48.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993 est.)

Currency

1 South Korean won (W) = 100 chun (theoretical)

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $3.9 billion; non-US countries (1970-89), $3 billion

Electricity

capacity: 27,016 kW (1993) production: 105 billion kWh (1992) consumption per capita: 2,380 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

South Korean won (W) per US$1 - 810.48 (January 1994), 802.68 (1993), 780.65 (1992), 733.35 (1991), 707.76 (1990), 671.46 (1989)

Exports

$81 billion (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: electronic and electrical equipment, machinery, steel, automobiles, ships, textiles, clothing, footwear, fish partners: US 26%, Japan 17%, EC 14%

External debt

$42 billion (1992)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$78.9 billion (c.i.f., 1993) commodities: machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic chemicals, grains partners: Japan 26%, US 24%, EC 15%

Industrial production

growth rate 5% (1992 est.); accounts for about 45% of GNP

Industries

electronics, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, steel, textiles, clothing, footwear, food processing

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

4.8% (1993)

National product

GNP - purchasing power equivalent - $424 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$9,500 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

6.3% (1993)

Overview

The driving force behind the economy's dynamic growth has been the planned development of an export-oriented economy in a vigorously entrepreneurial society. Real GNP increased more than 10% annually between 1986 and 1991. This growth ultimately led to an overheated situation characterized by a tight labor market, strong inflationary pressures, and a rapidly rising current account deficit. As a result, in 1992, economic policy focused on slowing the growth rate of inflation and reducing the deficit. Annual growth slowed to 5%, still above the rate in most other countries of the world. Growth increased to 6.3% in 1993 as a result of fourth quarter manufacturing production growth of over 10% and is expected to be in the 8% range for 1994.

Unemployment rate

2.6% (October 1993)

Area

total area: 98,480 sq km land area: 98,190 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than Indiana

Climate

temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter

Coastline

2,413 km

Environment

current issues: air pollution in large cities; water pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents natural hazards: occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; earthquakes in southwest international agreements: party to - Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Law of the Sea

International disputes

Demarcation Line with North Korea; Liancourt Rocks claimed by Japan

Irrigated land

13,530 sq km (1989)

Land boundaries

total 238 km, North Korea 238 km

Land use

arable land: 21% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 1% forest and woodland: 67% other: 10%

Location

Eastern Asia, between North Korea and Japan

Map references

Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

continental shelf: not specified territorial sea: 12 nm; 3 nm in the Korea Strait

Natural resources

coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower

Terrain

mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south

Abbreviation

ROK

Administrative divisions

9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 6 special cities* (jikhalsi, singular and plural); Cheju-do, Cholla-bukto, Cholla-namdo, Ch'ungch'ong-bukto, Ch'ungch'ong-namdo, Inch'on-jikhalsi*, Kangwon-do, Kwangju-jikhalsi*, Kyonggi-do, Kyongsang-bukto, Kyongsang-namdo, Pusan-jikhalsi*, Soul-t'ukpyolsi*, Taegu-jikhalsi*, Taejon-jikhalsi*

Capital

Seoul

Constitution

25 February 1988

Digraph

KS

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador HAN Sung-su chancery: 2450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 939-5600 consulate(s) general: Agana (Guam), Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle

Executive branch

chief of state: President KIM Yong-sam (since 25 February 1993); election last held on 18 December 1992 (next to be held NA December 1997); results - KIM Yong-sam (DLP) 41.9%, KIM Tae-chung (DP) 33.8%, CHONG Chu-yong (UPP) 16.3%, other 8% head of government: Prime Minister YI Yong-tok (since 29 April 1994); Deputy Prime Minister CHONG Chae-sok (since 21 December 1993) and Deputy Prime Minister YI Hong-ku (since 30 April 1994) cabinet: State Council; appointed by the president on the prime minister's recommendation

FAX

[82] (2) 738-8845 consulate(s): Pusan

Flag

white with a red (top) and blue yin-yang symbol in the center; there is a different black trigram from the ancient I Ching (Book of Changes) in each corner of the white field

Independence

15 August 1948

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

combines elements of continental European civil law systems, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

AfDB, APEC, AsDB, CCC, COCOM (cooperating), CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, OAS (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOSOM, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Korea conventional short form: South Korea local long form: Taehan-min'guk local short form: none

National Assembly (Kukhoe)

elections last held on 24 March 1992; results - DLP 38.5%, DP 29.2%, Unification National Party (UNP) 17.3% (name later changed to UPP), other 15%; seats - (299 total) DLP 149, DP 97, UNP 31, other 22; the distribution of seats as of January 1994 was DLP 172, DP 96, UPP 11, other 20 note: the change in the distribution of seats reflects the fluidity of the current situation where party members are constantly switching from one party to another

National holiday

Independence Day, 15 August (1948)

Other political or pressure groups

Korean National Council of Churches; National Democratic Alliance of Korea; National Federation of Student Associations; National Federation of Farmers' Associations; National Council of Labor Unions; Federation of Korean Trade Unions; Korean Veterans' Association; Federation of Korean Industries; Korean Traders Association

Political parties and leaders

majority party: Democratic Liberal Party (DLP), KIM Yong-sam, president opposition: Democratic Party (DP), YI Ki-taek, executive chairman; United People's Party (UPP), KIM Tong-kil, chairman; several smaller parties note: the DLP resulted from a merger of the Democratic Justice Party (DJP), Reunification Democratic Party (RDP), and New Democratic Republican Party (NDRP) on 9 February 1990

Suffrage

20 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador James T. LANEY embassy: 82 Sejong-Ro, Chongro-ku, Seoul mailing address: American Embassy, Unit 15550, Seoul; APO AP 96205-0001 telephone: [82] (2) 397-4000 through 4008 and 397-4114

Birth rate

15.7 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

6.17 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)

Infant mortality rate

21.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

20 million by occupation: services and other 52%, mining and manufacturing 27%, agriculture, fishing, forestry 21% (1991)

Languages

Korean, English widely taught in high school

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 70.59 years male: 67.39 years female: 73.98 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 96% male: 99% female: 99%

Nationality

noun: Korean(s) adjective: Korean

Net migration rate

0.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

45,082,880 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

1.04% (1994 est.)

Religions

Christianity 48.6%, Buddhism 47.4%, Confucianism 3%, pervasive folk religion (shamanism), Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way) 0.2%

Total fertility rate

1.65 children born/woman (1994 est.)