Korea, South

Internet country code

.kr

Internet hosts

5,433,591 (2005)

Internet users

33.9 million (2005)

Radio broadcast stations

AM 61, FM 150, shortwave 2 (2005)

Telephone system

general assessment: excellent domestic and international services domestic: NA international: country code - 82; 10 fiber-optic submarine cables - 1 Korea-Russia-Japan, 1 Korea-Japan-Hong Kong, 3 Korea-Japan-China, 1 Korea-Japan-China-Europe, 1 Korea-Japan-China-US-Taiwan, 1 Korea-Japan-China, 1 Korea-Japan-Hong Kong-Taiwan, 1 Korea-Japan; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) and 3 Inmarsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean)

Telephones - main lines in use

23.745 million (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular

38.342 million (2005)

Television broadcast stations

terrestrial stations 43; cable operators 59; relay cable operators 190 (2005)

Agriculture - products

rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish

Budget

revenues: $195 billion expenditures: $189 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)

Currency (code)

South Korean won (KRW)

Current account balance

$16.56 billion (2005 est.)

Debt - external

$153.9 billion (2005 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index

35.8 (2000)

Economic aid - donor

ODA, $423.3 million (2004)

Economy - overview

Since the early 1960s, South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world economy. Four decades ago, GDP per capita was comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. In 2004, South Korea joined the trillion dollar club of world economies. Today its GDP per capita is equal to the lesser economies of the EU. This success through the late 1980s was achieved by a system of close government/business ties, including directed credit, import restrictions, sponsorship of specific industries, and a strong labor effort. The government promoted the import of raw materials and technology at the expense of consumer goods and encouraged savings and investment over consumption. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-99 exposed longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's development model, including high debt/equity ratios, massive foreign borrowing, and an undisciplined financial sector. GDP plunged by 6.9% in 1998, then recovered 9.5% in 1999 and 8.5% in 2000. Growth fell back to 3.3% in 2001 because of the slowing global economy, falling exports, and the perception that much-needed corporate and financial reforms had stalled. Led by consumer spending and exports, growth in 2002 was an impressive 7%, despite anemic global growth. Between 2003 and 2005, growth moderated to about 4%. A downturn in consumer spending was offset by rapid export growth. In 2005, the government proposed labor reform legislation and a corporate pension scheme to help make the labor market more flexible, and new real estate policies to cool property speculation. Moderate inflation, low unemployment, an export surplus, and fairly equal distribution of income characterize this solid economy.

Electricity - consumption

321.1 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - exports

0 kWh (2004)

Electricity - imports

0 kWh (2004)

Electricity - production

342.1 billion kWh (2004)

Exchange rates

South Korean won per US dollar - 1,024.1 (2005), 1,145.3 (2004), 1,191.6 (2003), 1,251.1 (2002), 1,291 (2001)

Exports

$288.2 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities

semiconductors, wireless telecommunications equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships, petrochemicals

Exports - partners

China 21.8%, US 14.6%, Japan 8.5%, Hong Kong 5.5% (2005)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP (official exchange rate)

$801.2 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (purchasing power parity)

$1.101 trillion (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 3.3% industry: 40.3% services: 56.3% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

$22,600 (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

4% (2005 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 2.9% highest 10%: 25% (2005 est.)

Imports

$256 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities

machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, organic chemicals, plastics

Imports - partners

Japan 18.5%, China 14.8%, US 11.8%, Saudi Arabia 6.2% (2005)

Industrial production growth rate

5.9% (2005 est.)

Industries

electronics, telecommunications, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, steel

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

2.8% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed)

29.3% of GDP (2005 est.)

Labor force

23.53 million (2005 est.)

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 6.4% industry: 26.4% services: 67.2% (2005 est.)

Natural gas - consumption

24.09 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - exports

0 cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - imports

21.11 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - production

0 cu m (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption

2.061 million bbl/day (2004)

Oil - exports

645,200 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports

2.263 million bbl/day (2004)

Oil - production

0 bbl/day (2004)

Population below poverty line

15% (2003 est.)

Public debt

20% of GDP (2005 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$210.4 billion (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate

3.7% (2005 est.)

Area

total: 98,480 sq km land: 98,190 sq km water: 290 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly larger than Indiana

Climate

temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter

Coastline

2,413 km

Elevation extremes

lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m highest point: Halla-san 1,950 m

Environment - current issues

air pollution in large cities; acid rain; water pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents; drift net fishing

Environment - international agreements

party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geographic coordinates

37 00 N, 127 30 E

Geography - note

strategic location on Korea Strait

Irrigated land

8,780 sq km (2003)

Land boundaries

total: 238 km border countries: North Korea 238 km

Land use

arable land: 16.58% permanent crops: 2.01% other: 81.41% (2005)

Location

Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea

Map references

Asia

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the Korea Strait contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: not specified

Natural hazards

occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; low-level seismic activity common in southwest

Natural resources

coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower potential

Terrain

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

Administrative divisions

9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 7 metropolitan cities (gwangyoksi, singular and plural) provinces: Cheju-do, Cholla-bukto (North Cholla), Cholla-namdo (South Cholla), Ch'ungch'ong-bukto (North Ch'ungch'ong), Ch'ungch'ong-namdo (South Ch'ungch'ong), Kangwon-do, Kyonggi-do, Kyongsang-bukto (North Kyongsang), Kyongsang-namdo (South Kyongsang) metropolitan cities: Inch'on-gwangyoksi (Inch'on), Kwangju-gwangyoksi (Kwangju), Pusan-gwangyoksi (Pusan), Soul-t'ukpyolsi (Seoul), Taegu-gwangyoksi (Taegu), Taejon-gwangyoksi (Taejon), Ulsan-gwangyoksi (Ulsan)

Capital

name: Seoul geographic coordinates: 37 34 N, 127 00 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Constitution

17 July 1948

Country name

conventional long form: Republic of Korea conventional short form: South Korea local long form: Taehan-min'guk local short form: Han'guk abbreviation: ROK

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission: Ambassador Alexander VERSHBOW embassy: 32 Sejong-no, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-710 mailing address: US Embassy Seoul, Unit 15550, APO AP 96205-5550 telephone: [82] (2) 397-4114 FAX: [82] (2) 738-8845

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission: Ambassador LEE Tae-sik chancery: 2450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-5600 FAX: [1] (202) 387-0205 consulate(s) general: Agana (Guam), Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle

Executive branch

chief of state: President ROH Moo-hyun (since 25 February 2003) head of government: Prime Minister HAN Myeong-sook (since 20 April 2006); Deputy Prime Ministers KIM Woo-sik (since 10 February 2006); KWON O-kyu (since 18 July 2006); KIM Shin-il (since 20 September 2006) cabinet: State Council appointed by the president on the prime minister's recommendation elections: president elected by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 19 December 2002 (next to be held in December 2007); prime minister appointed by president with consent of National Assembly; deputy prime ministers appointed by president on prime minister's recommendation election results: ROH Moo-hyun elected president; percent of vote - ROH Moo-hyun (MDP) 48.9%; LEE Hoi-chang (GNP) 46.6%; other 4.5%

Flag description

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

Government type

republic

Independence

15 August 1945 (from Japan)

International organization participation

AfDB, APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CP, EAS, EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, LAIA, MIGA, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, PIF (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOGIP, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (justices appointed by president with consent of National Assembly); Constitutional Court (justices appointed by president based partly on nominations by National Assembly and Chief Justice of the court)

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly or Kukhoe (299 seats - members elected for four-year terms; 243 in single-seat constituencies, 56 by proportional representation) elections: last held 15 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2008; byelections held on 30 April 2005 and on 26 October 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - Uri 51%, GNP 41%, DLP 3%, DP 3%, others 2%; seats by party - Uri 144, GNP 127, DP 11, DLP 9, ULD 3, independents 5 note: percent of vote is for 2004 general election; seats by party reflect results of April and October 2005 byelections involving six and four seats respectively; MDP became DP in May 2005; United Liberal Democrats (ULD) merged with GNP in February 2006. (2006)

National holiday

Liberation Day, 15 August (1945)

Political parties and leaders

Democratic Labor Party or DLP [MOON Seong-hyun]; Democratic Party or DP [HAHN Hwa-kap]; Grand National Party or GNP [KANG Jae-sup]; People-Centered Party or PCP [SHIN Kook-hwan]; Uri Party [KIM Geun-tae]

Political pressure groups and leaders

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

Suffrage

19 years of age; universal

Background

Korea was an independent kingdom for much of its millennia-long history. Following its victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan occupied Korea; five years later it formally annexed the entire peninsula. After World War II, a Republic of Korea (ROK) was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a Communist-style government was installed in the north (the DPRK). During the Korean War (1950-53), US troops and UN forces fought alongside soldiers from the ROK to defend South Korea from DPRK attacks supported by China and the Soviet Union. An armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a demilitarized zone at about the 38th parallel. Thereafter, South Korea achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising to roughly 14 times the level of North Korea. In 1993, KIM Yo'ng-sam became South Korea's first civilian president following 32 years of military rule. South Korea today is a fully functioning modern democracy. In June 2000, a historic first North-South summit took place between the South's President KIM Dae-jung and the North's leader KIM Jong Il.

Manpower available for military service

males age 20-49: 12,483,677 females age 20-49: 12,014,462 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service

males age 20-49: 10,115,817 females age 20-49: 9,721,914 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually

males age 18-49: 344,943 females age 20-49: 312,720 (2005 est.)

Military branches

Army, Navy, Republic of Korea Air Force (Han-guk Kong Goon), Marine Corps, National Maritime Police (coast guard) (2006)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP

2.6% FY05 (2005 est.)

Military service age and obligation

20-30 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 24-28 months, depending on the military branch involved; 18 years of age for voluntary military service; some 4,000 women serve as commissioned and noncommissioned officers, approx. 2.3% of all officers; women, in service since 1950, are admitted to seven service branches, including infantry, but excluded from artillery, armor, anti-air, and chaplaincy corps (2005)

Age structure

0-14 years: 18.9% (male 4,844,083/female 4,368,139) 15-64 years: 71.9% (male 17,886,148/female 17,250,862) 65 years and over: 9.2% (male 1,818,677/female 2,678,914) (2006 est.)

Birth rate

10 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate

5.85 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Ethnic groups

homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

less than 0.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

less than 200 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

8,300 (2003 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 6.16 deaths/1,000 live births male: 6.54 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Languages

Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 77.04 years male: 73.61 years female: 80.75 years (2006 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.9% male: 99.2% female: 96.6% (2002)

Median age

total: 35.2 years male: 34.2 years female: 36.3 years (2006 est.)

Nationality

noun: Korean(s) adjective: Korean

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Population

48,846,823 (July 2006 est.)

Population growth rate

0.42% (2006 est.)

Religions

no affiliation 46%, Christian 26%, Buddhist 26%, Confucianist 1%, other 1%

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.11 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.27 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Disputes - international

Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic maritime disputes with North Korea over the Northern Limit Line; South Korea and Japan claim Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do/Take-shima), occupied by South Korea since 1954

Airports

107 (2006)

Airports - with paved runways

total: 69 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 21 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 20 (2006)

Airports - with unpaved runways

total: 38 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 35 (2006)

Heliports

540 (2006)

Merchant marine

total: 669 ships (1000 GRT or over) 8,634,188 GRT/13,733,624 DWT by type: bulk carrier 157, cargo 193, chemical tanker 98, container 81, liquefied gas 22, passenger 5, passenger/cargo 24, petroleum tanker 57, refrigerated cargo 17, roll on/roll off 6, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 6 foreign-owned: 22 (France 12, Japan 1, UK 2, US 7) registered in other countries: 365 (Belize 4, Cambodia 23, China 2, Cyprus 1, Georgia 1, Honduras 6, Hong Kong 6, Indonesia 1, Liberia 3, Malaysia 1, Malta 6, Marshall Islands 1, Panama 291, Singapore 17, unknown 2) (2006)

Pipelines

gas 1,482 km; refined products 827 km (2006)

Ports and terminals

Inch'on, Masan, P'ohang, Pusan, Ulsan

Railways

total: 3,472 km standard gauge: 3,472 km 1.435-m gauge (1,361 km electrified) (2005)

Roadways

total: 97,252 km paved: 74,641 km (including 3,060 km of expressways) unpaved: 22,611 km (2004)

Waterways

1,608 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2006)