Korea, South

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Maritime Police (Coast Guard)

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $17.4 billion, 3.3% of GNP (1996)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49: 13,602,115 males fit for military service: 8,706,545 males reach military age (18) annually: 398,322 (1996 est.)

Radio broadcast stations

AM 79, FM 46, shortwave 0

Radios

42 million (1993 est.)

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)

Telephones

16.6 million (1993)

Television broadcast stations

256 (57 of which are 1 kW or greater) (1987 est.)

Televisions

9.3 million (1992 est.) Defense

Agriculture

rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish catch of 2.9 million metric tons, seventh largest in world

Budget

revenues: $69 billion expenditures: $67 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1995 est.)

Currency

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

Economic aid

$NA

Economic 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 nine times India's, 14 times North Korea's, and already up with the lesser economies of the European Union. This success has been achieved by a unique combination of authoritarian government guidance of what is at bottom an essentially entrepreneurial process. The government has sponsored large-scale adoption of technology and management from Japan and other modern nations; has successfully pushed the development of export industries while encouraging the import of machinery and materials at the expense of consumer goods; and has pushed its labor force to a work effort seldom matched anywhere even in wartime. Real GDP grew by an average 10% in 1986-91, then paused to a "mere" 5% in 1992-93, only to move back up to 8% in 1994 and 9% in 1995. With a much higher standard of living and with a considerable easing of authoritarian controls, the work pace has softened. Growth rates will probably slow down over the medium term because of the exhaustion of former growth opportunities and the need to deal with pollution and the other problems of success.

Electricity

capacity: 28,750,000 kW production: 165 billion kWh consumption per capita: 2,899 kWh (1994)

Exchange rates

South Korean won (W) per US$1 - 787.27 (January 1996), 771.27 (1995), 803.45 (1994), 802.67 (1993), 780.65 (1992), 733.35 (1991)

Exports

$125.4 billion (f.o.b., 1995) commodities: electronic and electrical equipment, machinery, steel, automobiles, ships; textiles, clothing, footwear; fish partners: US 19%, Japan 14%, EU 13%

External debt

$77 billion (1995 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

purchasing power parity - $590.7 billion (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector

agriculture: 8% industry: 45% services: 47% (1991 est.)

GDP per capita

$13,000 (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate

9% (1995)

Imports

$135.1 billion (c.i.f., 1995) commodities: machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic chemicals, grains partners: Japan 24%, US 22%, EU 13%

Industrial production growth rate

12.2% (1995 est.)

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

4.3% (1995 est.)

Labor force

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

Unemployment rate

2% (1995 est.)

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; drift net fishing natural hazards: occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; earthquakes in southwest international agreements: party to - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Law of the Sea

Geographic coordinates

37 00 N, 127 30 E

International disputes

Demarcation Line with North Korea; Liancourt Rocks claimed by Japan

Irrigated land

13,530 sq km (1989)

Land boundaries

total: 238 km border country: 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, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea, south of North Korea

Map references

Asia

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

Administrative divisions

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

Capital

Seoul

Constitution

25 February 1988

Data code

KS

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador PAK Kun-u chancery: 2450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-5600, 524-9273 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) was elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 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 Su-song (since 15 December 1995) was appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly; Deputy Prime Ministers NA Ung-pae (since 20 December 1995) and KWON O-ki (since 20 December 1995) were appointed by the president on the prime minister's recommendation cabinet: State Council was 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

International organization participation

AfDB, APEC, AsDB, CCC, CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, OAS (observer), OSCE (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMOGIP, UNOMIG, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Judicial branch

Supreme Court, justices are appointed by the president subject to the consent of the National Assembly

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

unicameral

Name of country

conventional long form: Republic of Korea conventional short form: South Korea local long form: Taehan-min'guk local short form: none note: the South Koreans generally use the term "Hanguk" to refer to their country abbreviation: ROK

National Assembly (Kukhoe)

members elected for four-year terms; elections last held 11 April 1996 (next to be held NA 2000); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (299 total) NKP 139, NCNP 79, ULD 50, DP 15, independents 16

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: New Korea Party (NKP), KIM Yong-sam, president opposition: United Liberal Democratic Party (ULD), KIM Chong-p'il, president; Democratic Party (DP), KIM Won-ki, co-chairman and CHANG Ul-pyong, co-chairman; National Congress for New Politics (NCNP), KIM Tae-chung, president

Suffrage

20 years of age; universal

Type of government

republic

US diplomatic representation

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

Age structure

0-14 years: 23% (male 5,531,032; female 4,962,915) 15-64 years: 71% (male 16,374,678; female 15,910,846) 65 years and over: 6% (male 1,014,649; female 1,688,171) (July 1996 est.)

Birth rate

16.24 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate

5.66 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Ethnic divisions

homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)

Infant mortality rate

8.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Languages

Korean, English widely taught in high school

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 73.26 years male: 69.65 years female: 77.39 years (1996 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.) total population: 98% male: 99.3% female: 96.7%

Nationality

noun: Korean(s) adjective: Korean

Net migration rate

-0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Population

45,482,291 (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate

1.02% (1996 est.)

Religions

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

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.14 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.11 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female all ages: 1.02 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.77 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Airports

total: 105 with paved runways over 3 047 m: 1 with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 20 with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 13 with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 14 with paved runways under 914 m: 54 with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 3 (1995 est.)

Heliports

201 (1995 est.)

Highways

total: 61,296 km paved: 51,918 km (including 1,550 km of expressways) unpaved: 9,378 km (1993)

Merchant marine

total: 428 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,076,981 GRT/9,822,089 DWT ships by type: bulk 124, cargo 122, chemical tanker 21, combination bulk 3, combination ore/oil 1, container 59, liquefied gas tanker 12, multifunction large-load carrier 1, oil tanker 61, refrigerated cargo 13, short-sea passenger 1, vehicle carrier 10 note: South Korea owns an additional 231 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 10,128,506 DWT operating under the registries of Panama, Liberia, Cyprus, Malta, The Bahamas, and Thailand (1995 est.)

Pipelines

petroleum products 455 km

Ports

Chinhae, Inch'on, Kunsan, Masan, Mokp'o, Pohang, Pusan, Ulsan, Yosu

Railways

total: 3,101 km standard gauge: 3,081 km 1.435-m gauge (560 km electrified) narrow gauge: 20 km 0.762-m gauge

Waterways

1,609 km; use restricted to small native craft