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 along a demilitarized zone at about the 38th parallel. Thereafter South Korea achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising to roughly 20 times the level of North Korea. South Korea has maintained its commitment to democratize its political processes. 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 Chong-il.

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
Territorial sea: 12 NM; between 3 NM and 12 NM in the Korea Strait
Continental shelf: not specified
Exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

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: 17.44%
Permanent crops: 2.05%
Other: 80.51% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 11,590 km² (1998 est.)

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

Geography
Note: strategic location on Korea Strait

Population: 48.324 million (July 2002 est.)
Growth rate: 0.85% (2002 est.)
Below poverty line: 4% (2001 est.)

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: 21.4% (male 5,488,808; female 4,875,379)
15-64 years: 71% (male 17,404,645; female 16,894,361)
65 years and over: 7.6% (male 1,434,873; female 2,225,934) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.85% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 14.55 births/1000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 6.02 deaths/1000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2002 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: 0.65 male/female
Total population: 1.01 male/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 7.58 deaths/1000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 74.88 years
Female: 78.95 years (2002 est.)
Male: 71.2 years

Total fertility rate: 1.72 children born/woman (2002 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 short form: none
Note: the South Koreans generally use the term 'Han'guk' to refer to their country
Local long form: Taehan-min'guk
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 1948

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 ROH Muh-hyun (since 25 February 2003)
Head of government: Prime Minister KO Kun (since 27 February 2003); Deputy Prime Minister KIM Chin-p'yo (since 27 February 2003)
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 NA December 2007); prime minister appointed by the president; deputy prime ministers appointed by the president on the prime minister's recommendation
Election results: results of the 19 December 2002 election - ROH Muh-hyun elected president, took office 25 February 2003; percent of vote - ROH Muh-hyun (MDP) 48.9%; YI Hoe-chang (GNP) 46.6%; other 4.5%

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; note - the distribution of seats as of January 2002 is: GNP 136, MDP 118, ULD 15, DPP 2, independents 2

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 IEA (observer) IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO 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 WCL 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 consulates general: Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle
In the us consulates: Tamuning (Guam)
In the us fax: [1] (202) 387-0205
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 939-5,600
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas C. HUBBARD
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 Tigers of East Asia South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world economy. Three decades ago GDP per capita was comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. Today its GDP per capita is roughly 20 times North Korea's and equal 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 longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's development model including high debt/equity ratios massive foreign borrowing and an undisciplined financial sector. Growth plunged by 6.6% in 1998 then strongly recovered to 10.8% in 1999 and 9.2% 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 have stalled. Led by industry and construction growth in 2002 was an impressive 5.8% despited anemic global growth.

Real gdp growth rate: 5.8% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $19,400 (2002 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 4%
Industry: 42%
Services: 54% (2002 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: 6.5% (2002 est.)

Labor force: 22 million (2001)
By occupation services: 69%
By occupation industry: 22%
By occupation agriculture: 10% (2001)

Unemployment rate: 3.1% (2002 est.)

Population below poverty line: 4% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3%
Highest 10: 25% (1998 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index: 32 (1993)

Budget
Revenues: $118.1 billion
Expenditures: $95.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $22.6 billion (2000)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.8% (2002 est.)

Exports: $159.2 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: electronic products machinery and equipment motor vehicles steel ships; textiles clothing footwear; fish
Partners: US 20.7% China 12.1% Japan 11.0% Hong Kong 6.3% Taiwan 3.9% (2001)

Imports: $146.6 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: machinery electronics and electronic equipment oil steel transport equipment textiles organic chemicals grains
Partners: Japan 18.9% US 15.9% China 9.4% Saudi Arabia 5.7% Australia 3.9% (2001)

Debt external: $128.2 billion (2001)

Exchange rates: South Korean won per US dollar - 1317.01 (January 2002) 1290.99 (2001) 1130.96 (2000) 1188.82 (1999) 1401.44 (1998) 951.29 (1997)

Electricity
Production: 273.2 billion kWh (2000)
Production by source fossil fuel: 61%
Production by source hydro: 1%
Production by source other: 0% (2000)
Production by source nuclear: 38%
Consumption: 254.08 billion kWh (2000)
Exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 24 million (2000)
Mobile cellular: 28 million (September 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: 25.6 million (2002)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $12.8 billion (FY00)
Percent of gdp: 2.8% (FY00)

Airports: 102 (2001)
With paved runways total: 69
With paved runways over 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 18
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 11
With paved runways under 914 m: 21 (2002)
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 16
With unpaved runways total: 33
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 31 (2002)

Heliports: 204 (2002)

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

Railways
Total: 3,124 km
Standard gauge: 3,124 km 1.435-m gauge (661 km electrified) (2000)

Waterways
Note: restricted to small native craft

Merchant marine
Total: 501 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,679,171 GRT/9,172,403 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 104, cargo 160, chemical tanker 47, combination bulk 6, container 52, liquefied gas 16, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 73, refrigerated cargo 25, roll on/roll off 5, short-sea passenger 1, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 5, includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Australia 1, Bulgaria 1, China 1, Greece 1, Japan 1, Malaysia 1, Norway 1, Panama 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, United Kingdom 1 (2002 est.)

Disputes international: Demarcation Line with North Korea; Liancourt Rocks/Take-shima/Tok-do disputed with Japan