Background: After World War II a republic was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a communist-style government was installed in the north. The Korean War (1950-53) had US and other UN forces intervene to defend South Korea from North Korean attacks supported by the Chinese. An armistice was signed in 1953 splitting the peninsula at the 38th parallel known as the DMZ. Thereafter South Korea achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising to 13 times the level of North Korea. In 1997 the nation suffered a severe financial crisis from which it continues to make a solid recovery. South Korea has also maintained its commitment to democratize its political processes. In June 2000 a historic first south-north summit took place between the south's President KIM Dae-jung and the north's leader KIM Chong-il. In December 2000 President KIM Dae-jung won the Noble Peace Prize for his lifeling committment to democracy and human rights in Asia. He is the first Korean to win a Nobel Prize.

Geographic coordinates: 37 00 N 127 30 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 98,480 km²
Land: 98,190 km²
Water: 290 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Indiana

Land boundaries
Total: 238 km
Border countries: (1) 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

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

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

Natural resources: coal tungsten graphite molybdenum lead hydropower potential

Land use
Arable land: 19%
Permanent crops: 2%
Permanent pastures: 1%
Forests and woodland: 65%
Other: 13% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 13,350 km² (1993 est.)

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

Population: 47,904,370 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 0.89% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Noun: Korean
Adjective: Korean

Ethnic groups: homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)

Languages: Korean English widely taught in junior high and high school

Religions: Christian 49% Buddhist 47% Confucianist 3% Shamanist Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way) and other 1%

Age structure
0-14 years: 21.59% (male 5,475,453; female 4,864,918)
15-64 years: 71.14% (male 17,291,202; female 16,789,380)
65 years and over: 7.27% (male 1,352,312; female 2,131,105) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.89% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 14.85 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 5.93 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

Environment
Current issues: air pollution in large cities; acid rain; water pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents; drift net fishing
International agreements party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.11 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.13 male/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male/female
65 years and over: 0.63 male/female
Total population: 1.01 male/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 7.71 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 74.65 years
Male: 70.97 years
Female: 78.74 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.72 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.01% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 3,800 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 180 (1999 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 98%
Male: 99.3%
Female: 96.7% (1995 est.)

Country name
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 'Han-guk' to refer to their country
Abbreviation: ROK

Government type: republic

Capital: Seoul

Administrative divisions: 9 provinces (do singular and plural) and 7 metropolitan 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* Ulsan-gwangyoksi*

Independence: 15 August 1945 (from Japan)

National holiday: Liberation Day 15 August (1945)

Constitution: 25 February 1988

Legal system: combines elements of continental European civil law systems Anglo-American law and Chinese classical thought

Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President KIM Dae-jung (since 25 February 1998)
Head of government: Prime Minister YI Han-tong (since 23 May 2000)
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 18 December 1997 (next to be held by 18 December 2002); prime minister appointed by the president; deputy prime ministers appointed by the president on the prime minister's recommendation
Election results: KIM Dae-jung elected president; percent of vote - KIM Dae-jung (NCNP) 40.3% (with ULD partnership), YI Hoe-chang (GNP) 38.7%, YI In-che (NPP) 19.2%

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 13 April 2000 (next to be held NA April 2004)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - GNP 133, MDP 115, ULD 17, other 8

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (justices are appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly)

Political parties and leaders
Note: on 20 January 2000, the National Congress for New Politics or NCNP was renamed the Millennium Democratic Party or MDP

International organization participation: AfDB APEC ARF (dialogue partner) AsDB ASEAN (dialogue partner) Australia Group 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 NAM (guest) NEA NSG OAS (observer) OECD OPCW OSCE (partner) PCA UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNMOGIP UNOMIG UNTAET UNU UPU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador YANG Song-chol
In the us chancery: 2,450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 939-5,600
In the us fax: [1] (202) 387-0205
In the us consulates general: Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle
In the us consulates: Hagatna (Guam)
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
From the us embassy: 82 Sejong-ro, Chongro-ku, Seoul 110-710
From the us mailing address: American Embassy, Unit 15,550, APO AP 96,205-0001
From the us telephone: [82] (2) 397-4,114
From the us fax: [82] (2) 738-8,845

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

Economy overview: As one of the Four Dragons of East Asia South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth. Three decades ago 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 16 times North Korea's and comparable to 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 1997-99 exposed certain longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's development model including high debt/equity ratios massive foreign borrowing and an undisciplined financial sector. By 1999 GDP growth had recovered reversing the substantial decline of 1998. Seoul has pressed the country's largest business groups to restructure and to strengthen their financial base. Growth in 2001 likely will be a more sustainable rate of 5%.

Real gdp growth rate: 9% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $16,100 (2000 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 5.6%
Industry: 41.4%
Services: 53% (1999 est.)

Agriculture products: rice root crops barley vegetables fruit; cattle pigs chickens milk eggs; fish

Industries: electronics automobile production chemicals shipbuilding steel textiles clothing footwear food processing

Industrial production growth rate: 17% (2000)

Labor force: 22 million (2000)
By occupation services: 68%
By occupation industry: 20%
By occupation agriculture: 12% (1999)

Unemployment rate: 4.1% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.9%
Highest 10: 24.3% (1993)

Budget
Revenues: $81.8 billion
Expenditures: $94.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $6.1 billion (1999)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.3% (2000)

Exports: $172.6 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: electronic products machinery and equipment motor vehicles steel ships; textiles clothing footwear; fish
Partners: US 20.5% Japan 11% China 9.5% Hong Kong 6.3% Taiwan 4.4% (1999)

Imports: $160.5 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: machinery electronics and electronic equipment oil steel transport equipment textiles organic chemicals grains
Partners: US 20.8% Japan 20.2% China 7.4% Saudi Arabia 4.7% Australia 3.9% (1999)

Debt external: $137 billion (November 2000)

Exchange rates: South Korean won per US dollar - 1271.89 (January 2001) 1130.96 (2000) 1188.82 (1999) 1401.44 (1998) 951.29 (1997) 804.45 (1996)

Electricity
Production: 250.287 billion kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 59.22%
Production by source hydro: 1.64%
Production by source nuclear: 39.12%
Production by source other: 0.02% (1999)
Consumption: 232.767 billion kWh (1999)
Exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 24 million (1999)
Mobile cellular: 27 million (June 2000)

Telephone system
General assessment: excellent domestic and international services
Domestic: NA
International: fiber-optic submarine cable to China; the Russia-Korea-Japan submarine cable; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean region)

Internet
Country code: .kr
Service providers isps: 11 (2000)
Users: 15.3 million (2000)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $12 billion (2000)
Percent of gdp: 3.2% (FY98/99)

Airports: 102 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 68
With paved runways over 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 18
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 16
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 11
With paved runways under 914 m: 21 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 34
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 32 (2000 est.)

Heliports: 203 (2000 est.)

Pipelines: petroleum products 455 km; note - additionally there is a parallel petroleum oils and lubricants (POL) pipeline being completed

Railways
Total: 6,240 km
Standard gauge: 6,240 km 1.435-m gauge (525 km electrified) (1998 est.)

Waterways
Note: restricted to small native craft

Merchant marine
Total: 496 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,421,993 GRT/8,757,034 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 105, cargo 168, chemical tanker 38, combination bulk 5, container 49, liquefied gas 16, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 70, refrigerated cargo 27, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea passenger 1, specialized tanker 4, vehicle carrier 5 (2000 est.)