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November 2007
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Korea
 Korea
was an independent kingdom for much of the past millennium.
Following its victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan
occupied Korea; five years later it formally annexed the entire
peninsula. 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. During the Korean War
(1950-53), US and other UN forces intervened 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 14 times the level of North Korea. In 1993,
KIM Yo'ng-sam became South Korea's first civilian president
following 32 years of military rule. South Korea today is a
fully functioning modern democracy. In June 2000, a historic
first North-South summit took place between the South's President
KIM Tae-chung and the North's leader KIM Jong Il.
Economy
Since the early 1960s, South Korea has achieved an incredible
record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world
economy. Four decades ago, GDP per capita was comparable with
levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. In 2004,
South Korea joined the trillion dollar club of world economies.
Today its GDP per capita is 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 to a negative 6.9% in 1998, then strongly
recovered to 9.5% in 1999, and 8.5% 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 had stalled. Led by consumer spending and exports, growth
in 2002 was an impressive 7.0%, despite anemic global growth.
Between 2003 and 2005, growth moderated to about 4%. A downturn
in consumer spending was offset by rapid export growth. In 2005,
the government proposed labor reform legislation and a corporate
pension scheme to help make the labor market more flexible,
and new real estate policies to cool property speculation. Moderate
inflation, low unemployment, an export surplus, and fairly equal
distribution of income characterize this solid economy.
| Population |
48,422,644 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure |
0-14 years: 19.4% (male 4,952,177/female
4,450,821)
15-64 years: 72% (male 17,715,267/female 17,147,808)
65 years and over: 8.6% (male 1,670,971/female 2,485,600)
(2005 est.)
|
| Median age |
total: 34.51 years
male: 33.53 years
female: 35.53 years (2005 est.) |
| Population growth rate |
0.38% (2005 est.) |
| Net migration rate |
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2005 est.) |
| GDP (purchasing power parity) |
$983.3 billion (2005 est.) |
| GDP (official exchange rate) |
$726.5 billion (2005 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate |
3.7% (2005 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed) |
31.4% of GDP (2005 est.) |
|
