Korea, South

Airports

110 total, 102 usable; 60 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 21 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 17 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

93 major transport aircraft

Highways

62,936 km total (1982); 13,476 km national highway, 49,460 km provincial and local roads

Inland waterways

1,609 km; use restricted to small native craft

Merchant marine

439 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,182,519 GRT/11,906,897 DWT; includes 2 short-sea passenger, 138 cargo, 45 container, 11 refrigerated cargo, 11 vehicle carrier, 48 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 10 chemical tanker, 13 liquefied gas, 7 combination ore/oil, 146 bulk, 7 combination bulk, 1 multifunction large-load carrier

Pipelines

455 km refined products

Ports

Pusan, Inchon, Kunsan, Mokpo, Ulsan

Railroads

3,106 km operating in 1983; 3,059 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 47 km 0.610-meter narrow gauge, 712 km double track, 418 km electrified; government owned

Telecommunications

adequate domestic and international services; 4,800,000 telephones; 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 (including Marines), Air Force

Defense expenditures

$10.4 billion, 4.5% of GNP (1991)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 12,859,511; 8,294,624 fit for military service; 429,088 reach military age (18) annually

Agriculture

accounts for 11% 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 $38 billion; expenditures $38 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1991)

Currency

South Korean won (plural--won); 1 South Korean won (W) = 100 chon (theoretical)

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $3.9 billion; non-US countries (1970-89), $3.0 billion

Electricity

21,000,000 kW capacity; 85,000 million kWh produced, 1,970 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates

South Korean won (W) per US$1--718.14 (January 1991), 707.76 (1990), 671.46 (1989), 731.47 (1988), 822.57 (1987), 881.45 (1986), 870.02 (1985)

Exports

$65 billion (f.o.b., 1990); commodities--textiles, clothing, electronic and electrical equipment, footwear, machinery, steel, automobiles, ships, fish; partners--US 30%, Japan 19%

External debt

$31.7 billion (1990)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GNP

$238 billion, per capita $5,600; real growth rate 9% (1990 est.)

Imports

$70 billion (c.i.f., 1990); commodities--machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic chemicals, grains; partners--Japan 27%, US 24% (1990)

Industrial production

growth rate 8.6% (1990 est.); accounts for about 45% of GDP

Industries

textiles, clothing, footwear, food processing, chemicals, steel, electronics, automobile production, ship building

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

8.6% (1990)

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--which grew by 6.7% in 1989 after an average annual growth of over 12% between 1986-88--grew about 9% in 1990. Labor unrest--which led to substantial wage hikes in 1987-88--was noticeably calmer in 1990, unemployment averaged a low 2.5%, and investment was strong. Inflation rates, however, are beginning to challenge South Korea's strong economic performance. Consumer prices rose 8.6%, the highest rate in nine years. Policymakers are concerned higher prices could lead to a resurgence of labor unrest.

Unemployment rate

2.5% (1990)

Climate

temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter

Coastline

2,413 km Continental shelf: not specific Territorial sea: 12 nm (3 nm in the Korea Strait)

Comparative area

slightly larger than Indiana

Disputes

Demarcation Line with North Korea; Liancourt Rocks claimed by Japan

Environment

occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; earthquakes in southwest; air pollution in large cities

Land boundary

238 km with North Korea

Land use

arable land 21%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 1%; forest and woodland 67%; other 10%; includes irrigated 12%

Natural resources

coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower

Notes

strategic location along the Korea Strait, Sea of Japan, and Yellow Sea

Terrain

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

Total area

98,480 km2; land area: 98,190 km2

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

Communists

Communist party activity banned by government

Constitution

25 February 1988

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador HYUN Hong Joo; Chancery at 2320 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 939-5600; there are Korean Consulates General in Agana (Guam), Anchorage, Atlanta, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle; US--Ambassador Donald P. GREGG; Embassy at 82 Sejong-Ro, Chongro-ku, Seoul (mailing address is APO San Francisco 96301); telephone [82] (2) 732-2601 through 2618; there is a US Consulate in Pusan

Executive branch

president, prime minister, deputy prime minister, State Council (cabinet)

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 Chief of State--President ROH Tae Woo (since 25 February 1988); Head of Government--Prime Minister CHUNG Won Shik (since 24 May 1991); Deputy Prime Minister CHOI Kak Kyu (since 19 February 1991) ruling party--Democratic Liberal Party (DLP), ROH Tae Woo, president, KIM Young Sam, chairman; 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; opposition--New Democratic Party (NDP, formerly Party for Peace and Democracy or PPD), KIM Dae Jung, president; Democratic Party (DP), YI Ki Taek; several smaller parties

Legal system

combines elements of continental European civil law systems, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly (Kuk Hoe)

Long-form name

Republic of Korea; abbreviated ROK

Member of

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

National holiday

Independence Day, 15 August (1948)

Other political or pressure groups

Korean National Council of Churches; National Democratic Alliance of Korea; National Council of College Student Representatives; 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

Suffrage

universal at age 20 President--last held on 16 December 1987 (next to be held December 1992); results--ROH Tae Woo (DJP) 35.9%, KIM Young Sam (RDP) 27.5%, KIM Dae Jung (PPD) 26.5%, other 10.1%; National Assembly--last held on 26 April 1988 (next to be held April 1992); results--DJP 34%, RDP 24%, PPD 19%, NDRP 15%, other 8%; seats--(299 total) DJP 125, PPD 70, RDP 59, NDRP 35, other 10; note--on 9 February 1990 the DJP, RDP, and NDRP merged to form the DLP; also the PPD became the NDP; as a result the distribution of seats changed to DLP 218, NDP 70, other 11 (June 1990)

Type

republic

Birth rate

15 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

homogeneous; small Chinese minority (about 20,000)

Infant mortality rate

23 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

16,900,000; 52% services and other; 27% mining and manufacturing; 21% agriculture, fishing, forestry (1987)

Language

Korean; English widely taught in high school

Life expectancy at birth

67 years male, 73 years female (1991)

Literacy

96% (male 99%, female 94%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality

noun--Korean(s); adjective--Korean

Net migration rate

- 1 migrant/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

about 10% of nonagricultural labor force in government-sanctioned unions

Population

43,134,386 (July 1991), growth rate 0.8% (1991)

Religion

strong Confucian tradition; vigorous Christian minority (28% of the total population); Buddhism; pervasive folk religion (Shamanism); Chondokyo (religion of the heavenly way), eclectic religion with nationalist overtones founded in 19th century, claims about 1.5 million adherents

Total fertility rate

1.6 children born/woman (1991)