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General Details |
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| President |
Mr. Roh Moo-hyun |
| Capital |
Seoul |
| Area |
total: 98,480 sq km
land: 98,190 sq km
water: 290 sq km |
| Land boundaries: |
total: 238 km
border countries: North Korea 238 km |
| Coastline: |
2,413 km |
| Maritime claims |
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: not specified
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the Korea
Strait |
| Climate |
Temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer
than winter |
| Irrigated land |
13,350 sq km (approx.) |
| Natural hazards |
Occasional typhoons bring high winds and
floods; low-level seismic activity common in southwest |
| Environment-international agreements |
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification |
| Population & its structure |
46,884,800 (approx.) |
| Birth rate |
15.95 births/1,000 population (approx.) |
| Death rate |
5.68 deaths/1,000 population (approx.) |
| Net migration rate |
-0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (approx.) |
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| Sex ratio |
at birth: 1.13 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.13 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (approx.) |
| Life expectancy at birth |
total population: 74.3 years
male: 70.75 years
female: 78.32 years (approx.) |
| Religious |
Christianity 49%, Buddhism 47%, Confucianism
3%, pervasive folk religion (shamanism), Chondogyo (Religion of the
Heavenly Way), and other 1% |
| Legislative Body |
Unicameral National Assembly or Kukhoe |
| Official Language |
Korean, English widely taught in junior high
and high
school
 |
| Literacy |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 99.3%
female: 96.7% |
| Currency |
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| Legal System |
Combines elements of continental European civil
law systems, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought |
| GDP: Purchasing Power Parity |
-$584.7 billion (approx.) |
| GDP - real growth rate |
-6.8% (approx.) |
| GDP - per capita |
purchasing power parity-$12,600 (approx.) |
| GDP - Composition by sector |
agriculture: 6%
industry: 43%
services: 51% (approx.) |
| Economy Overview |
As one of the Four Dragons of
East Asia, South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth.
Three decades ago its GDP per capita was comparable with levels in
the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. Today its GDP per capita
is seven times India's, 13 times North Korea's, and already near
the lesser economies of the European Union. 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 1997-98 exposed
certain longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's development model,
including high debt/equity ratios, massive foreign borrowing, and
an undisciplined financial sector. By the end of 1998 it had
recovered financial stability, rebuilding foreign exchange reserves
to record levels by running a current account surplus of $40
billion. As of December 1998, the first tentative signs of a
rebound in the economy emerged, and most forecasters expect GDP
growth to turn positive at least in the second half of 1999. Seoul
has also made a positive start on a program to get the country's
largest business groups to swap subsidiaries to promote
specialization, and the administration has directed many of the
mid-sized conglomerates into debt-workout programs with creditor
banks. Challenges for the future include cutting redundant staff,
which reaches 20%-30% at most firms and maintaining the impetus for
structural reform.
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| Household income |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) |
7.5% (approx.) |
| Industries |
Electronics, automobile production, chemicals,
shipbuilding, steel, textiles, clothing, footwear, food processing |
| Industrial production growth rate |
3.1% (approx.) |
| Agriculture- products |
Rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit;
cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish |
| Exports |
$133 billion (approx.) |
| Exports-commodities |
Electronic and electrical equipment, machinery,
steel, automobiles, ships; textiles, clothing, footwear; fish |
| Exports-partners |
US 17%, EU 13%, Japan 12% (approx.) |
| Imports |
$94 billion (approx.) |
| Imports-commodities |
Machinery, electronics and electronic
equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic
chemicals, grains |
| Imports-partners |
US 22%, Japan 21%, EU 13% (approx.) |
| Communication |
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| Telephones |
16.6 million |
| Telephone system |
Excellent domestic and international services
domestic: NA
international: fiber-optic submarine cable to China; satellite earth
stations-3 Intelsat (2 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1
Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean region) |
| Radio Broadcast stations |
AM 79, FM 46, shortwave 0 |
| Radios |
42 million |
| Television broadcast station |
121 (in addition, there are 850 relay stations
and eight-channel American Forces Korea Network) |
| Televisions |
9.3 million |
| Transportation |
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| Railways |
total: 6,240 km
standard gauge: 6,240 km 1.435-m gauge (525 km electrified |
| Highways |
total: 63,500 km
paved: 46,800 km (including 1,720 km of expressways)
unpaved: 16,700 km |
| Waterways |
1,609 km; use restricted to small native craft |
| Pipelines |
Petroleum products 455 km; note-additionally,
there is a parallel petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) pipeline
being completed |
| Ports and harbors |
Chinhae, Inch'on, Kunsan, Masan, Mokp'o,
P'ohang, Pusan, Tonghae-hang, Ulsan, Yosu |
| Tax Structure |
Tax Structure |
| International Membership |
AfDB, APEC, AsDB, BIS, CCC, CP, EBRD, ESCAP,
FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer),
IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol,
IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW,
OSCE (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMOGIP, UNOMIG, UNU, UPU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
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General Section
