South Korea, officially the
Republic of Korea (ROK) ( , ) and
often simply referred to as Korea
, is
a country in East Asia, located on the
southern half of the Korean
Peninsula. It is neighbored by China
to the west, Japan
to the east,
and North
Korea
to the north. Its capital is
Seoul
, the second largest metropolitan city
in the world and a major global
city. South Korea lies in a
temperate climate region with a
predominantly mountainous terrain. Its territory covers a total
area of 100,032 square kilometers and has a population of over 48
million, making it the third most densely populated (significantly
sized) country in the world (after Bangladesh and Taiwan).
Archaeological findings show that the Korean Peninsula was occupied
as early as the
Lower Paleolithic
period.
Korean history begins
with the founding of
Gojoseon in 2333
BC by
Dangun.
Following the
unification of the Three
Kingdoms of Korea under Silla 668 AD,
Korea went through the Goryeo Dynasty
and Joseon Dynasty
as one nation until the end of the Korean Empire
in 1910, when Korea was annexed by Japan.
After
liberation and occupation by
Soviet and U.S. forces at the end of World War II, the nation was
divided into North and South Korea. The latter was established in
1948 as a
democracy. A
war between the two Koreas ended in an uneasy
cease-fire. After the war and a period of military rule, the
South Korean economy grew
significantly and the country was transformed into a
major economy and a
full democracy.
South Korea is a
presidential
republic consisting of 16
administrative
divisions and is a
developed
country with a high
standard of
living. It has the fourth largest economy in Asia and the
15th largest in
the world. The economy is export-driven, with production focusing
on
electronics,
automobile,
ship,
machinery,
petrochemicals and
robotics. South Korea is a member of the
United Nations,
WTO,
OECD and
G-20
major economies.
It is also a founding member of APEC and the East Asia
Summit, and a major non-NATO
ally of the United
States
.
Government
Like many democracies, South Korea's government is divided into
three branches:
executive,
judicial, and
legislative. The executive and legislative
branches operate primarily at the national level, although various
ministries in the executive branch also carry out local functions.
Local governments are semi-autonomous, and contain executive and
legislative bodies of their own. The judicial branch operates at
both the national and local levels. South Korea is a constitutional
democracy.
The South Korean government's structure is determined by the
Constitution of
the Republic of Korea. This document has been revised several
times since its first promulgation in 1948 at independence.
However, it has retained many broad characteristics and with the
exception of the short-lived
Second Republic of South
Korea, the country has always had a presidential system with an
independent chief executive. The first direct
election was also held in 1948.
Although South Korea experienced a series of military dictatorships
since the 1960s up until the 1980s, it has since developed into a
successful
liberal democracy.
Today, the
CIA World Factbook
describes South Korea's democracy as a "fully functioning modern
democracy".
History
Before division
Korea began with the founding of Joseon (The name
Gojoseon is almost always used to prevent confusion
with another Joseon dynasty founded in 14th century; the prefix Go-
means 'old' or 'earlier') in 2333
BCE by
Dangun. Gojoseon expanded until it controlled
much of the northern Korean peninsula and parts of
Manchuria. After numerous wars with the Chinese
Han Dynasty, Gojoseon disintegrated,
leading to the
Proto-Three
Kingdoms of Korea period.
In the early centuries of the Common Era,
Buyeo,
Okjeo,
Dongye, and the
Samhan
confederacy occupied the peninsula and southern Manchuria. Of the
various small states,
Goguryeo,
Baekje, and
Silla grew to
control the peninsula as
the
Three Kingdoms. The unification of the Three Kingdoms by
Silla in 676 led to the
North South States Period, in
which much of the Korean peninsula was controlled by
Unified Silla, while
Balhae succeeded the northern parts of Goguryeo. In
Unified Silla, poetry and art was
encouraged, and Buddhist culture flourished. Relationships between
Korea and China remained relatively peaceful during this time.
However,
Unified Silla weakened under internal strife, and surrendered to
Goryeo
in 935. Balhae,
Silla's neighbor to the north, was formed as a successor state to
Goguryeo. During its height, Balhae controlled most of Manchuria
and parts of Russia. It fell to the
Khitan in 926.
After the North-South Period, successor states fought for control
during the
Later Three Kingdoms
period.
The peninsula was soon united by Emperor Taejo of Goryeo. Like
Silla, Goryeo was a highly cultural state and created the
Jikji in 1377, using the world's oldest movable metal
printing press.
The
Mongol invasions in
the 13th century greatly weakened Goryeo. After nearly 30 years of
war, Goryeo continued to rule Korea, though as a tributary ally to
the Mongols.
After the Mongolian Empire collapsed, severe
political strife followed and the Goryeo Dynasty was replaced by
the Joseon
Dynasty in 1388 following a rebellion by General Yi Seong-gye.
King Taejo
declared the new name of Korea as "Joseon" in reference to Gojoseon, and moved the capital to Seoul. The
first 200 years of the Joseon Dynasty were marked by relative peace
and saw the creation of
Hangul by
King Sejong the Great in the 14th
century and the rise in influence of
Confucianism in the country.
Between 1592 and 1598, the
Japanese invaded Korea.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi led the forces and
tried to invade the Asian continent through
Korea, but was eventually repelled by the Righteous army and assistance from Ming Dynasty
China
. This
war also saw the rise of Admiral
Yi
Sun-sin and his reknowned "
turtle
ship". In the 1620s and 1630s, Joseon suffered from
invasions by the Manchu who
eventually conquered all of China.
After another series of
invasions from Manchuria,
Joseon experienced a nearly 200-year period of peace.
King Yeongjo and
King Jeongjo especially led a new
renaissance of the Joseon Dynasty.
However, the latter years of the Joseon Dynasty were marked by
excessive dependence on China for external affairs and isolation
from the outside world. During the 19th century, Korea's
isolationist policy earned it the name the "
Hermit Kingdom". The Joseon Dynasty tried to
protect itself against Western
imperialism, but was eventually forced to open
trade beginning an era which eventually led to 35 years of
Japanese colonial rule
(1910-1945). After the end of World War II, the Japanese
surrendered to Soviet and U.S. forces who occupied the northern and
southern halves of Korea, respectively.
After division
Despite
the initial plan of a unified Korea in the 1943 Cairo Declaration, escalating Cold War antagonism between the Soviet Union and
the United States eventually led to the establishment of separate
governments, each with its own ideology, leading to Korea's division into two political
entities in 1948: North
Korea and South Korea. In the North, a former
anti-Japanese guerrilla and communist activist,
Kim Il-sung gained power through Soviet support,
and in the South, an exiled and right-wing Korean political leader,
Syngman Rhee, was installed as
president.
On 25 June 1950, North Korea launched an attempt to unify the
country by military force which lead to the
Korean War. At the time, the Soviet Union had
boycotted the
United Nations (UN),
thus forfeiting their veto rights. This allowed the UN to intervene
in a civil war when it became apparent that the superior North
Korean forces would unify the entire country.
The Soviet Union and
China backed North Korea, with the later participation of
millions of Chinese
troops. After huge advances on both sides, and massive
losses among Korean civilians in both the north and the south, the
war eventually reached a stalemate. The 1953 armistice, never
signed by South Korea, split the peninsula along the
demilitarized zone near the
original demarcation line. No peace treaty was signed, resulting in
the two countries remaining technically at war. At least 2.5
million people died during the Korean War.
In 1960,
a student uprising led to
the resignation of the autocratic President
Syngman Rhee. A period of political instability
followed, broken by General
Park
Chung-hee's
military coup
(the
"5-16 coup d'état") against the weak and ineffectual
government the next year. Park took over as president until his
assassination in 1979, overseeing rapid
export-led economic growth
as well as severe political repression. Park was heavily criticised
as a ruthless military dictator, although the Korean economy
developed significantly during his tenure.
The years after Park's assassination were marked again by
considerable political turmoil as the previously repressed
opposition leaders all campaigned to run for president in the
sudden political void. In 1980 there was another
coup d'état by General
Chun Doo-hwan against the transitional
government of Choi Gyu Ha, the interim president and a former prime
minister under Park. Chun assumed the presidency.
His seizure of power
triggered nationwide protests demanding democracy, in particular in the city of Gwangju,
in Jeollanam-do
, where Chun sent special forces to violently
suppress the Gwangju
Democratization Movement.
Chun and
his government held Korea under a despotic rule until 1987, when
Park Jong Chul—a student attending Seoul
National University
—was tortured to death. On 10 June, the
Catholic Priests' Association for Justice revealed Park's torture,
igniting huge demonstrations around the country. Eventually, Chun's
party, the
Democratic Justice
Party, and its leader,
Roh Tae-woo
announced the June 29th Declaration, which included the direct
election of the president. Roh went on to win the election by a
narrow margin against the two main opposition leaders,
Kim Dae-Jung and
Kim
Young-Sam.
In 1988, Seoul successfully hosted the
1988 Summer Olympics, and continuing
economic development led to membership in the
Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1996. As
with many of its Asian neighbors, South Korea was adversely
affected by the
1997 Asian
Financial Crisis, however the country was able to recover and
continue its economic growth.
In June
2000, as part of president Kim Dae-Jung's "Sunshine Policy" of engagement, a North-South summit took place in
Pyongyang
, the capital of North Korea. Later that
year, Kim received the [[Nobel Peace Prize] "for his work for
democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in
general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in
particular."
In 2002,
South Korea and Japan jointly co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup, however South Korean and Japanese
relations later soured due to conflicting
claims of sovereignty over the Liancourt
Rocks
(known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan),
in what became known as the Liancourt Rocks
dispute.
Foreign relations
South Korea maintains diplomatic relations with approximately 170
countries. The country has also been a member of the
United Nations since 1991, when it became a
member state at the same time as North Korea. On January 1, 2007,
South Korean Foreign Minister
Ban
Ki-moon assumed the post of
UN Secretary-General. It
has also developed links with the
Association of Southeast
Asian Nations as both a member of
ASEAN Plus three, a
body of observers, and the
East Asia
Summit (EAS).
Beginning in May 2007, South Korea and the
European Union are negotiating a
free trade
agreement to reduce trade barriers.
South Korea is also
negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with Canada
, and another
with New
Zealand
.
United States
The United States engaged in the decolonization of Korea (mainly
South, Soviet Union engaged North Korea) from Japan after World War
II. After 3 years of military administration by the United States,
the South Korean government was established.Upon the onset of the
Korean War, the U.S. forces were sent to defend South Korea against
invasion by North Korea and later China. Since then, the two
nations have had strong economic, diplomatic and military ties,
although they have at times disagreed with regards to policies
towards North Korea. Currently, the
U.S. Eighth
Army,
Seventh Air Force and
U.S. Naval Forces Korea are
stationed in South Korea. In 2007, a free trade agreement known as
the
Republic
of Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) was
signed between South Korea and the United States, but has not yet
been approved by the legislative bodies of the two countries.
China
Historically, Korea has had relatively close
relations with the Republic of China
. Before the formation of South Korea, Korean
independence fighters worked with Chinese soldiers during the
Japanese occupation.
However, after World
War II, the People's Republic of China embraced Maoism while South
Korea sought close relations with the United States. The PRC
assisted North Korea with manpower and supplies during the
Korean War, and in its aftermath the diplomatic
relationship between South Korea and the PRC almost completely
ceased. Relations thawed gradually and South Korea and the PRC
re-established formal diplomatic relations on August 24, 1992. The
two countries sought to improve bilateral relations and lifted the
forty-year old trade embargo, and South Korean-Chinese relations
have improved steadily since 1992.
The Republic of Korea broke off official
relations with the Republic of China upon gaining official relations with the People's
Republic of China. Today, China is South Korea's most
important trading partner.
Japan
Although there were no formal diplomatic ties between South Korea
and Japan after the end of World War II, South Korea and Japan
signed the
Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of
Korea in 1965 to establish diplomatic ties. There is heavy
anti-Japanese sentiment
in South Korea due to a number of unsettled
Japanese-Korean disputes, many of
which stem from the period of
Japanese occupation. During
World War II, more than 100,000 Koreans
were forced to serve in the
Imperial Japanese Army.
Korean women were
lured to the war front to serve the Imperial Japanese Army as
sexual slaves, called comfort
women.[4459] Longstanding issues such as Japanese war crimes against Korean
civilians, the visits by Japanese politicians to the Yasukuni
Shrine
honoring Japanese soldiers killed at war (including
some class A war criminals), the re-writing of Japanese textbooks
to overlook Japanese aggression during World War II, and the
territorial disputes over Dokdo Island
continue to trouble Korean-Japanese
relations. In response to then-
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the
Yasukuni Shrine, former
President Roh Moo-hyun suspended
all summit talks between South Korea and Japan. Japan sent much aid
to support development of South Korea after the war, but the amount
of compensation for colonial suffering was questioned for its
legitimacy. The amount of money they paid and the method of
distribution caused protest among those people who suffered from
forced labor and abuse.
North Korea
Both
North and South
Korea continue to officially claim sovereignty over the entire
peninsula and any outlying islands. With longstanding
animosity following the
Korean War from
1950 to 1953, North Korea and South Korea signed an agreement to
pursue peace. On October 4, 2007, Roh Moo-Hyun and North Korean
leader
Kim Jong-il signed an eight-point
agreement on issues of permanent peace, high-level talks, economic
cooperation, renewal of train services, highway and air travel, and
a joint Olympic cheering squad.
Despite
the Sunshine Policy and efforts at reconciliation, the progress was
complicated by North Korean
missile tests in 1993, 1998, 2006
and 2009. , relationships between North and
South Korea are very tense; North Korea has been reported to have
deployed missiles, ended its former agreements with South Korea,
and threatened South Korea and the United States not to interfere
with a satellite launch it had planned.As of 2009, North and South
Korea are still technically at war (having never signed an
armistice after the Korean War) and share the world’s most heavily
fortified border. On May 27, 2009, North Korea declared that the
ceasefire treaty, signed post Korean War, is no longer valid due to
the South Korean government's pledge to "definitely join" the
Proliferation Security
Initiative.
Armed forces
ROK Amphibious Task Force conducts
amphibious landing
A history of domination by its neighbors and unresolved tension
with North Korea have prompted South Korea to pump 2.6% of its GDP
and 15% of all government spending into its military, while
maintaining compulsory conscription for men. Consequently, South
Korea has the world's sixth largest number of
active troops,
the world's second-largest number of
reserve troops and
the twelfth largest
defence
budget.
The South Korean military consists of the
Army (ROKA), the
Navy (ROKN), the
Air Force (ROKAF), and the
Marine Corps (ROKMC),
and reserve forces. Many of these forces are concentrated near the
Korean Demilitarized Zone.
All South Korean males are constitutionally required to serve in
the military, typically for a period of two years. However, there
have been debates about shortening the length of the military
services, and even dismissing the mandatory service itself. The
government recently allowed some male students who were in the
process of earning a university bachelor's degree and master's
degree to dismiss the military requirements to allow them to
further study and research their fields. Furthermore, Koreans of
mixed race are exempt from military duty if they "look
distinctively biracial".
The
South Korean army has 2,300
tanks in operation, including the
K1A1 and
K2 Black
Panther. The
South Korean
navy has the world's sixth largest fleet of
destroyers, including the
King Sejong the Great
class destroyer, which has an
Aegis guided missile system..
The
South Korean airforce
operates the ninth largest airforce in the world, including
American fighters such as the F-15K,
KF-16, and the indigenous T-50 Golden Eagle.
From time to time, South Korea has sent its troops overseas to
assist American forces. It has participated in most major conflicts
that the United States has been involved in the past 50 years.
South
Korea dispatched 320,000 troops to fight alongside American,
Australian, Filipino
, New
Zealand and South Vietnamese
soldiers in the Vietnam War, with a peak
strength of 50,000. Most recently, South Korea sent 3,300 troops
of the Zaytun Division to help
re-building in northern Iraq
, and was the
3rd largest contributor in the coalition forces after only the
US and Britain.
The United States has stationed a substantial contingent of
troops in South Korea since the
Korean War to defend South Korea in case of a
North Korean attack. There are also approximately 29,000
U.S. Military personnel stationed in
Korea, most of them serving one year of unaccompanied tours.
The
American troops, which primarily are assigned to the Eighth United States Army are
stationed in installations at Osan
, Yongsan,
Dongducheon
, Sungbuk, and Daegu
. A
still functioning
UN
Command is technically the top of the
chain of command of all forces in South
Korea, including the US forces and the entire South Korean
military. Although, if a sudden escalation of war between North and
South Korea were to occur, as of currently, the United States would
assume control of the South Korean Army in all military and
paramilitary moves. However, in September 2006, the Presidents of
the United States and the Republic of Korea agreed that South Korea
should assume the lead for its own defense. In early 2007, the U.S.
Secretary of Defense and ROK Minister of National Defense
determined that South Korea will assume wartime operational control
of its forces on April 17, 2012. U.S. Forces Korea will transform
into a new jointwarfighting command, provisionally described as
Korea Command (KORCOM).
Administrative divisions
- See also Special cities
of Korea and Provinces of
Korea
Principal divisions of South
Korea
General map of South Korea
The major administrative divisions in South Korea are
provinces,
metropolitan cities
(self-governing cities that are not part of any province), and one
special city.
|
Namea |
hangul |
hanja |
population |
| Special city
(Teukbyeolsi)a |
| 1 |
Seoul
|
서울특별시 |
서울特別市 |
10,421,782 |
| Metropolitan cities
(Gwangyeoksi)a |
| 2 |
Busan |
부산광역시 |
釜山廣域市 |
3,635,389 |
| 3 |
Daegu |
대구광역시 |
大邱廣域市 |
2,512,604 |
| 4 |
Incheon |
인천광역시 |
仁川廣域市 |
2,628,000 |
| 5 |
Gwangju |
광주광역시 |
光州廣域市 |
1,415,953 |
| 6 |
Daejeon |
대전광역시 |
大田廣域市 |
1,442,857 |
| 7 |
Ulsan |
울산광역시 |
蔚山廣域市 |
1,087,958 |
| Provinces
(Do)a |
| 8 |
Gyeonggi-do |
경기도 |
京畿道 |
10,415,399 |
| 9 |
Gangwon-do |
강원도 |
江原道 |
1,592,000 |
| 10 |
Chungcheongbuk-do (Northern Chungcheong) |
충청북도 |
忠淸北道 |
1,462,621 |
| 11 |
Chungcheongnam-do (Southern Chungcheong) |
충청남도 |
忠淸南道 |
1,840,410 |
| 12 |
Jeollabuk-do (Northern Jeolla) |
전라북도 |
全羅北道 |
1,890,669 |
| 13 |
Jeollanam-do (Southern Jeolla) |
전라남도 |
全羅南道 |
1,994,287 |
| 14 |
Gyeongsangbuk-do (Northern Gyeongsang) |
경상북도 |
慶尙北道 |
2,775,890 |
| 15 |
Gyeongsangnam-do (Southern Gyeongsang) |
경상남도 |
慶尙南道 |
2,970,929 |
| Special self-governing province
(Teukbyeoljachi-do)a |
| 16 |
Jeju-teukbyeoljachido |
제주특별자치도 |
濟州特別自治道 |
560,000 |
Geography and climate
South Korea occupies the southern portion of the
Korean Peninsula, which extends some 680
miles (1,100 km) from the Asian mainland.
This mountainous
peninsula is flanked by the Yellow Sea
to the west, and the East
Sea (동해) to the east. Its southern tip lies on the Korea Strait
and the East China Sea
.
The country's total area is .
South Korea can be divided into four general regions: an eastern
region of high mountain ranges and narrow
coastal plains; a western region of broad
coastal plains,
river basins, and
rolling hills; a southwestern region of mountains and valleys; and
a southeastern region dominated by the broad basin of the
Nakdong River.
South Korea's terrain is mostly mountainous, most of which is not
arable.
Lowlands,
located primarily in the west and southeast, constitute only 30% of
the total land area.
About three thousand islands, mostly small and uninhabited, lie off
the western and southern coasts of South Korea.
Jeju-do is located about 100 kilometers (about 60 mi)
off the southern coast of South Korea. It is the country's
largest island, with an area of 1,845 square kilometres (712 sq
mi).
Jeju
is also the site of South Korea's highest point: Hallasan
, an extinct volcano, reaches
1,950 meters (6,398 ft) above sea level. The most eastern
islands of South Korea include Ulleungdo
and Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo in Korean), while Marado and Socotra Rock
are the southernmost islands of South
Korea.
South
Korea has 20 national parks and some popular nature places like
Boseong
Tea Field, Suncheon Bay Ecological Park in
South
Jeolla
province.
Climate
South Korea has a
humid
continental climate and a
humid subtropical climate, and is
affected by the
East Asian
monsoon, with
precipitation heavier in summer
during a short rainy season called
jangma (
장마), which begins end of June through
the end of July. Winters can be cold: in Seoul, the average January
temperature range is −7 °
C to 1 °C
(19 °
F to 33 °F), and the
average August temperature range is 22 °C to 30 °C
(71 °F to 86 °F). Winter temperatures are higher along
the southern coast and considerably lower in the mountainous
interior. Rainfall is concentrated in the summer months of June
through September. The southern coast is subject to late summer
typhoons that bring strong winds
and heavy rains.
The average annual precipitation varies from 1,370
millimeters (54 inches) in Seoul to 1,470
millimeters (58 inches) in Busan.
There are occasional typhoons that bring high winds and
floods.
Environment
During the first 20 years of South Korea's growth surge, little
effort was made to preserve the environment. Unchecked
industrialization has resulted in deforestation and the ongoing
destruction of wetlands such as the Songdo Tidal Flat. However,
there have been recent efforts to balance these problems, including
a government run $84 billion five-year
green growth project that aims to boost energy
efficiency and green technology. The Green based economic strategy
is a comprehensive overhaul of South Korea’s economy, equaling at
nearly two percent of the national GDP. The initiative includes
greening such as a nation wide bike network, solar and wind energy,
lowering oil dependent vehicles, backing daylight savings and
extensive usage of environmentally friendly technologies such as
LED in electronics and lighting. The country, already the world's
most wired plans to build a nation wide next generation internet 10
times faster than broadband to reduce energy usage.The Seoul's
tap water recently became safe to drink,
with city offials branding it "Arisu" in a bid to convince the
public. Efforts have also been made with
afforestation projects. Another multi-billion
dollar project was the restoration of
Cheonggyecheon, a stream running through
central Seoul that had earlier been paved over by a motorway.)One
major challenge is air quality, with acid rain, sulphur oxides and
annual yellow dust storms being particular problems. It is
acknowledged that much of these difficulties are a result of South
Korea's proximity to China, which is a major air polluter.
South
Korea is a member of Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic
Treaty, Biodiversity Treaty,
Kyoto Protocol (forming the
Environmental Integrity Group (EIG), regarding UNFCCC, with Mexico
and
Switzerland
), 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, and Whaling.
Economy
South Korea had the world's second-fastest growing economy from
1960 to 1990. Korea's transformation into a
developed country during this time was
termed the
Miracle on the Han
River, and South Korea was considered one of the
Four Asian Tigers. The growth surge was
initially achieved by paying low wages to manufacture
labour-intensive goods, aimed at export.
South Korea is a
member of the OECD, and is classified as a
high-income economy by the
World Bank and an advanced economy by the IMF
and
CIA and a developed
market by the FTSE
Group.
Today, the South Korean economy is dominated by large business
groups known as
Chaebol. These include
companies such as
Samsung,
LG,
Hyundai-Kia and
SK. The Chaebol are government-supported powerful
global multinationals owning numerous international enterprises.
The Korean word means "business family" or "monopoly" and is often
used the way "conglomerate" is used in English.
Despite lacking
natural resources
and having the
smallest
territory among the
G-20 major
economies, the
South Korean
economy is the
fourth
largest in Asia and 15th largest in the world.
Like West Germany
and Japan, rapid
industrialization since the 1960s
has made South Korea one of the world's top ten exporters. It is the
seventh largest
trading
partner of the United States and the eighth largest trading
partner of the European Union. In 2009, South Korea was ranked as
the most
innovative country
in the world among major economies by the
BCG and
NAM.
South Korea is the world's largest
shipbuilder, and one of the world's top five
automobile manufacturing nations.South
Korea is also dominant in crude oil imports, refined oil exports,
and the building construction industry.
Its capital, Seoul, has been listed as one of the world's top ten
financial and
commercial cities by
Forbes and
Mastercard, and
is the center of the service industry in South Korea
In 2008,
negotiations for free trade
agreements with the US (also known
as the KORUS FTA)
and the European Union were carried
out. At that time, Korea's GDP (PPP) per capita was
estimated at $27,646.
High-tech industries
In
consumer electronics, South
Korea is the world's largest
LCD,
OLED,
CRT and
plasma display maker. The South Korean
companies
Samsung and
LG are among the top three manufacturers of
televisions and
mobile phones. Samsung is currently the
world's most valued consumer electronics brand.
South Korea has a
high-tech infrastructure, with the world's highest
broadband internet access
per capita, and the fastest average
Internet connections.
South Korea also exports
radioactive
isotope production equipment for medical and industrial use to
countries such as Russia, Japan and Turkey.
The government is also investing in the
robotics industry. There are also plans to develop
other sectors, including
financial
services,
biotechnology and
aerospace industries.
South Korea was the first country to start
Digital Multimedia
Broadcasting in 2005 and
wireless broadband
Internet in 2006 and
nation-wide 100
Mbit/s
fibre-optic broadband network,
which is being upgraded to 1 Gbit/s by 2013.
Transportation and energy
South Korea has a technologically advanced transportation network
consisting of high-speed railways, highways, bus routes, ferry
services, and air routes that criss-cross the country.
Korea Expressway Corporation
operates the toll highways and service amenities en route.
Korail provides frequent train service to all
major South Korean cities.
Two rail lines, Gyeongui and Donghae Bukbu Line, to North Korea are now being reconnected. The Korean
high-speed rail system,
KTX, provides high-speed service along
Gyeongbu and
Honam Line. Major cities—including Seoul, Busan,
Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon and Gwangju—have subway systems.
Metropolitan Cities (
gwangyeoksi, self-governing cities
that are not incorporated into any province) have express bus
terminals.
Construction of South Korea's largest
airport, Incheon International Airport
, was completed in 2001. By 2007, the airport
was serving 30 million passengers a year. The airport has been
selected as the "Best Airport Worldwide" for four consecutive years
since 2005 by
Airports
Council International.
Other international airports include
Gimpo
, Busan
and Jeju
. There are also seven domestic airports, and
a large number of
heliports.
Korean Air, founded in 1962, served
21,640,000 passengers, including 12,490,000 international
passengers in 2008. A second carrier,
Asiana Airlines, established in 1988, also
serves domestic and international traffic. Combined, South Korean
airlines currently serve 297 international routes. Smaller
airliners, such as
Jeju Air, provide
domestic service with lower fares.
South Korea is the world's sixth largest
nuclear power producer and the second-largest
in Asia.
Nuclear power in
South Korea supplies 45% of electricity production and research
is very active with investigation into a variety of advanced
reactors, including a small modular reactor, a liquid-metal
fast/
transmutation
reactor and a high-temperature
hydrogen
generation design. Fuel production and waste handling technologies
have also been developed locally.
It is also a member of the ITER
project.
Science and technology
Aerospace research
South
Korea has launched two satellites, Arirang-1 in 1999 and Arirang-2 in 2006, as part of its space
partnership with Russia
.
Naro Space
Center
, the first spaceport of
South Korea, was completed in 2008 at Goheung
, Jeollanam-do. The
Korea Space Launch Vehicle was
launched from Naro in the 2009 but failed.
In April 2008,
Yi So-yeon became the
first Korean to fly in space, aboard the Russian
Soyuz TMA-12.
Robotics
Robotics has been included in the list of
main national R&D projects in Korea since 2003.
In 2009, the
government announced plans to build robot-themed parks in Incheon and Masan
with a mix
of public and private funding.
In 2005,
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology
developed the world's second walking humanoid robot, HUBO. A team in the
Korea Institute of
Industrial Technology developed the first Korean
android,
EveR-1 in May 2006.
EveR-1 has been succeeded by more complex models with improved
movement and vision. Next models are scheduled to be completed by
2010.
Biotechnology
Since the 1980s, the Korean government has actively invested in the
development of a domestic
biotechnology industry, and the sector is
projected to grow to $6.5 billion by 2010. The medical sector
accounts for a large part of the production, including production
of
hepatitis vaccines and
antibiotics.
Recently,
research and development in genetics and
cloning has received increasing attention,
with the first successful cloning of a dog, Snuppy, and the cloning of two females of an
endangered species of wolves by the Seoul
National University in 2007.
The rapid growth of the industry has resulted in significant voids
in regulation of ethics, as was highlighted by the
scientific misconduct case
involving
Hwang Woo-Suk.
Education
Education in South Korea is regarded as being crucial to one's
success, and competition is consequently very heated and fierce. In
the 2006 results of the
OECD Programme for
International Student Assessment, South Korea came first in
problem solving, third in
mathematics and eleventh in
science.
A centralised administration in South Korea oversees the process
for the education of children from kindergarten to the third and
final year of high school. South Korea has adopted a new
educational program to increase the number of their foreign
students through the year 2010. According to Ministry of Education,
Science and Technology estimate, by that time, the number of
scholarships for foreign students in South Korea will be doubled,
and the number of foreign students will reach 100,000.The school
year is divided into two semesters, the first of which begins in
the beginning of March and ends in mid-July, the second of which
begins in late August and ends in mid-February.The schedules are
not uniformly standardized and vary from school to school.
Demographics
South Korea is noted for its population density, which at 487 per
square kilometer is more than 10 times the global average. Most
South Koreans live in urban areas, due to rapid migration from the
countryside during the country's quick economic expansion in the
1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
The capital city of Seoul is also the
country's largest city and chief industrial center.
According to 2005 census, Seoul had a population of 9.8 million
inhabitants. The
Seoul
National Capital Area has 24.5 million inhabitants making it
the world's second largest metropolitan area.
Other major cities
include Busan (3.5
million), Incheon (2.5 million), Daegu (2.5
million), Daejeon (1.4 million), Gwangju (1.4 million) and Ulsan (1
million).
The population has also been shaped by international migration.
Following the
division of the Korean
peninsula after World War II, about four million people from
North Korea crossed the border to South Korea.
This trend of net
entry reversed over the next forty years due to emigration,
especially to the United
States and Canada.
South Korea’s total population in 1960 was 25 million. The current
population of South Korea is roughly 49,540,000.
South Korea is a homogeneous society with an absolute majority of
the population of
Korean ethnicity. Although
small, the percentage of non-Koreans has been increasing. , South
Korea had 1,106,884 foreign residents, more than double the 2006
total.
Migrants from the
People's Republic of China make up 56.5% of the total; however,
many of them are
Joseonjok, PRC citizens of Korean
ethnicity. The roughly 33,000
Mongolian immigrants are believed
to be the largest community of Mongolian citizens residing abroad.
Another notable group is women from
Southeast Asia who comprised 41% of new
marriages with Korean farmers in 2006. There are also 31,000
US military personnel. In
addition, about 43,000 English teachers from the United States,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and
South Africa temporarily reside in Korea.
South Korea's birthrate is the world's lowest. If this continues,
its population is expected to decrease by 13 percent to 42.3
million in 2050, South Korea's annual birthrate is approximately 9
births per 1000 people. The average
Life
expectancy in 2008 was 79.10 years, which is 40th in the
world.
Cities of South Korea
The figure below lists the twenty largest cities within
administrative city limits; the figures below only include
long-term residents.
Religion
Just under half of South Koreans profess no religious beliefs.
Those who do are mostly
Christian or
Buddhist, along with minor
traditional religions practiced in small regions.Other religions
include
Islam and various
new religious movements such as
Jeungism,
Daesunism,
Cheondoism
and
Wonbuddhism.
Christianity is South Korea's largest
religion, accounting for more than half of all South Korean
religious adherents.There are approximately 15 million Christians
in South Korea today, with more than two-thirds of
Christians belonging to the
Protestant group, while about 15% belong to the
Catholic group. The largest Christian
church in South Korea,
Yoido
Full Gospel Church, is located in Seoul. Roman Catholicism has
been the fastest growing denomination in South Korea since the late
1980s. South Korea is also the second-largest missionary-sending
nation.
Buddhism was introduced to Korea in the year 372. According to the
national census as of 2005, South Korea has over 10.7 million
Buddhists. Today, about 90% of Korean Buddhists belong to
Jogye Order. Most of the
National Treasures of South
Korea are Buddhist artifacts.
Along with Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism was also a state
religion during the periods from Three Kingdoms of Korea to Goryeo before
suppression under the Joseon Dynasty.
Islam in South Korea has an estimated
45,000 native followers, in addition to some 100,000 resident
foreign workers from Muslim countries, particularly Bangladesh
and Pakistan
.
Culture
South
Korea shares its traditional culture with North Korea, but the two Koreas have developed distinct
contemporary forms of culture since the peninsula was divided in
1945. Historically, while the culture of Korea has been
heavily influenced by that of neighbouring China, it has
nevertheless managed to develop a unique and distinct cultural
identity from its larger neighbour. The South Korean
Ministry of
Culture and Tourism actively encourages the traditional arts,
as well as modern forms, through funding and education programs.
The industrialization and urbanization of South Korea have brought
many changes to the way
Korean people
live. Changing economics and lifestyles have led to a concentration
of population in major cities, especially the capital Seoul, with
multi-generational households separating into
nuclear family living arrangements.
There
were 8 UNESCO World Heritage
Sites in South Korea and recently Royal Tombs
of the Joseon Dynasty
was added, with a total of 9.
Contemporary Music and Film/TV
In addition to domestic consumption, South Korean mainstream
culture, including televised drama, films, and popular music, also
generates significant exports to various parts of the world. This
phenomenon, often called "
Hallyu" or the
"Korean Wave", has swept many countries in Asia and other parts of
the world.
Until the 1990s,
trot and
ballads dominated Korean popular music. The emergence
of the rap group
Seo Taiji and
Boys in 1992 marked a turning point for Korean popular music,
also known as
K-Pop, as the group incorporated
elements of popular musical genres of
rap,
rock, and
techno
into its music. Hip hop, dance and ballad oriented acts have become
dominant in the Korean popular music scene, though trot is still
popular among older Koreans. Many K-Pop stars and groups are also
well known abroad, especially in Asia.
Since the success of the film
Shiri in 1999,
Korean film has begun to gain recognition
internationally. Domestic film has a dominant share of the market,
partly due to the existence of
screen
quotas requiring cinemas to show Korean films at least 73 days
a year.
Korean television shows, especially the
short form dramatic mini-series called "dramas", have also become
popular outside of Korea, becoming another driving trend for the
Korean Wave in Asia and elsewhere. The trend has generated
internationally known Korean stars and has boosted the image of
Korean popular culture. The dramas are popular mostly in Asia. The
stories have a wide range, but the most prominent among the export
dramas have been romance dramas, such as
Autumn Fairy Tale,
Winter Sonata,
Full House ,
All About Eve, and
historical/fantasy dramas, such as
Dae
Jang Geum,
The Legend and
Goong.
Cuisine
Korean cuisine,
hanguk yori (한국요리, 韓國料理), or
hansik (한식, 韓食), has evolved through centuries of social
and political change. Ingredients and dishes vary by province.
There are many significant regional dishes that have proliferated
in different variations across the country in the present day. The
Korean royal court
cuisine once brought all of the unique regional specialties
together for the royal family. Meals consumed both by the royal
family and ordinary Korean citizens have been regulated by a unique
culture of etiquette.
Korean cuisine is largely based on
rice,
noodles,
tofu,
vegetables, fish and meats. Traditional Korean meals are noted for
the number of side dishes,
banchan
(반찬), which accompany steam-cooked short-grain rice. Every meal is
accompanied by numerous banchan.
Kimchi, a
fermented, usually spicy vegetable dish is commonly served at every
meal and is one of the best known Korean dishes. Korean cuisine
usually involves heavy seasoning with
sesame
oil,
doenjang (된장), a type of
fermented soybean paste,
soy sauce, salt, garlic,
ginger, and
gochujang (고추장), a
hot pepper paste.
Soups are also a common part of a Korean meal and are served as
part of the main course rather than at the beginning or the end of
the meal. Soups known as
guk (국) are
often made with meats, shellfish and vegetables. Similar to guk,
tang (탕) has less water, and is more often served in
restaurants. Another type is
jjigae
(찌개), a
stew that is typically heavily seasoned
with chili pepper and served boiling hot.
Technology culture
South Korean corporations
Samsung and
LG are the second- and third-largest cell phone
companies in the world, respectively. A typical South Korean
consumer purchases a new phone every 11 months. An estimated 90% of
South Koreans own a
mobile phone. Aside
from placing/receiving calls and text messaging, mobile phones in
the country are widely used for watching
Digital Multimedia
Broadcasting (DMB) or viewing websites. Over one million DMB
phones have been sold and the three major wireless communications
providers
SK Telecom,
KT, and
LG Telecom provide
coverage in all major cities and other areas.
In recent years
online games have
become a significant part of Korean culture.
StarCraft, the
real-time strategy game, is by far the
most popular televised game in South Korea. Game tournaments,
recorded in places like the
COEX Mall are
often broadcast live on TV stations such as
MBCGame and
Ongamenet.
Professional
StarCraft players can command considerable
salaries in South Korea as members of pro-gaming teams that are
sponsored primarily by cell phone providers. PC games are usually
played in
PC bangs which are basically
internet cafes, dedicated to LAN games of popular titles like
Kart Rider,
Sudden Attack,
World of Warcraft,
Mabinogi and
Lineage.
Art
Korean art has been highly influenced by
Buddhism and
Confucianism.There are well-known
Korean pottery and
porcelain like
Baekja and
Buncheong. Also
Korean tea ceremony,
Pansori,
Talchum and
Buchaechum are popular Korean performing
arts.
Hanbok is the traditional Korean dress.
Nowadays, people wear it during traditional festivals and
celebrations.It has many germants like
Dopo ,
Durumagi and
Jeogori, so it is worn as semi-formal or
formal wear.
Architecture
Pre-modern Korean architecture may be divided into two main styles:
these used in palace and temple structures, and these used in the
houses of common people, which consisted of local variations.
Korean's ancient architects adopted the bracket system and is
characterized by thatched roofs and heated floors called ondol.
People of the upper classes built bigger houses with tiled roofs.
The roofs were elegantly curved and accentuated with slightly
uplifting eaves.
There still are many sites like Hahoe Folk
Village
, Yangdong
Village of Gyeongju and Korean
Folk Village where the traditional Korean architecture is
preserved.
Sports
The
martial art taekwondo originated in Korea. In the 1950s and
60s, modern rules were standardised, and Taekwondo became an
official
Olympic sport in 2000. Other
Korean martial arts include
taekkyeon,
hapkido,
tang soo
do,
kuk sool won,
kumdo and
subak.
Baseball was first introduced to Korea in
1905 and has since become the most popular spectator sport in South
Korea. The first South Korean professional sports league was the
Korea Baseball
Organization, established in 1982. South Korea finished third
during the
2006 World
Baseball Classic and second during the
2009 World Baseball Classic. In
the 2008 Olympics held in Beijing, South Korea won the gold medal
in baseball.
In 1988, South Korea hosted the
Summer Olympics in Seoul, coming fourth
with 12 gold medals, 10 silver medals and 11 bronze medals. South
Korea regularly performs well in
archery,
shooting,
table
tennis,
badminton,
short track speed skating,
handball,
hockey,
freestyle
wrestling,
baseball,
judo,
taekwondo, and
weightlifting. South Korea also hosted
the
Asian Games in 1986 (Seoul) and 2002
(Busan), and will host again in 2014 (Incheon). It also hosted the
Asian Winter Games in 1999, the
Winter
Universiade in 1997 and the
Summer Universiade in 2003.
In the
2002 FIFA World Cup,
jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan, the
national football team
became the first team in the
Asian Football Confederation to
reach the semi-finals.
In 2010,
South Korea will host their first Formula
One race to be staged at the Korean
International Circuit
in Yeongam
, about south of Seoul. In 2011, the South
Korean city of Daegu will host the
2011 IAAF World
Championships in Athletics.
See also
Notes
References
External links