1990 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1990 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Climate
temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter
Coastline
2,413 km
Comparative area
slightly larger than Indiana
Disputes
Demarcation Line with North Korea; Liancourt Rocks claimed by Japan
Environment
occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; earthquakes in southwest; air pollution in large cities
Land boundary
238 km with North Korea
Land use
21% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 1% meadows and pastures; 67% forest and woodland; 10% other; includes 12% irrigated
Natural resources
coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower
Notes
strategic location along the Korea Strait, Sea of Japan, and Yellow Sea
Terrain
mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south
Territorial sea
12 nm (3 nm in the Korea Strait)
Total area
98,480 km2; land area: 98,190 km2
People and Society
Birth rate
20 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate
6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Ethnic divisions
homogeneous; small Chinese minority (about 20,000)
Infant mortality rate
23 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Labor force
16,900,000; 52% services and other; 27% mining and manufacturing; 21% agriculture, fishing, forestry (1987)
Language
Korean; English widely taught in high school
Life expectancy at birth
66 years male, 73 years female (1990)
Literacy
over 90%
Nationality
noun--Korean(s); adjective--Korean
Net migration rate
- 1 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Organized labor
about 10% of nonagricultural labor force in government-sanctioned unions
Population
43,045,098 (July 1990), growth rate 0.8% (1990)
Religion
strong Confucian tradition; vigorous Christian minority (28% of the total population); Buddhism; pervasive folk religion (Shamanism); Chondokyo (religion of the heavenly way), eclectic religion with nationalist overtones founded in 19th century, claims about 1.5 million adherents
Total fertility rate
1.6 children born/woman (1990)
Government
Administrative divisions
9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 6 special cities* (jikhalsi, singular and plural); Cheju-do, Cholla-bukto, Cholla-namdo, Ch'ungch'ong-bukto, Ch'ungch'ong-namdo, Inch'on-jikhalsi*, Kangwon-do, Kwangju-jikhalsi, Kyonggi-do, Kyongsang-bukto, Kyongsang-namdo, Pusan-jikhalsi*, Soul-t'ukpyolsi*, Taegu-jikhalsi*, Taejon-jikhalsi
Capital
Seoul
Communists
Communist party activity banned by government
Constitution
25 February 1988
Diplomatic representation
Ambassador Tong-Jin PARK; Chancery at 2320 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 939-5600; there are Korean Consulates General in Agana (Guam), Anchorage, Atlanta, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle; US--Ambassador Donald GREGG; Embassy at 82 Sejong-Ro, Chongro-ku, Seoul (mailing address is APO San Francisco 96301); telephone [82] (2) 732-2601 through 2618; there is a US Consulate in Pusan
Elections
President--last held on 16 December 1987 (next to be held December 1992); results--Roh Tae Woo (DJP) 35.9%, Kim Young Sam (RDP) 27.5%, Kim Dae Jung (PPD) 26.5%, other 10.1%; National Assembly--last held on 26 April 1988 (next to be held April 1992); results--DJP 34%, RPD 24%, PPD 19%, NDRP 15%, others 8%; seats--(299 total) DJP 125, PPD 71, RPD 59, NDRP 35, others 9
Executive branch
president, prime minister, deputy prime minister, State Council (cabinet)
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
Judicial branch
Supreme Court
Leaders
Chief of State--President ROH Tae Woo (since 25 February 1988); Head of Government--Prime Minister KANG Young Hoon (since 5 December 1988); Deputy Prime Minister CHO Soon (since 5 December 1988)
Legal system
combines elements of continental European civil law systems, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch
unicameral National Assembly
Long-form name
Republic of Korea; abbreviated ROK
Member of
ADB, AfDB, ASPAC, CCC, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat Council, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNIDO, UN Special Fund, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO; official observer status at UN
National holiday
Independence Day, 15 August (1948)
Other political or pressure groups
Korean National Council of Churches; large, potentially volatile student population concentrated in Seoul; Federation of Korean Trade Unions; Korean Veterans' Association; Federation of Korean Industries; Korean Traders Association
Political parties and leaders
major party is government's Democratic Justice Party (DJP), Roh Tae Woo, president, and Park Tae Chun, chairman; opposition parties are Peace and Democracy Party (PPD), Kim Dae Jung; Korea Reunification Democratic Party (RPD), Kim Young Sam; New Democratic Republican Party (NDRP), Kim Jong Pil; several smaller parties
Suffrage
universal at age 20
Type
republic
Economy
Agriculture
accounts for 11% of GNP and employs 21% of work force (including fishing and forestry); principal crops--rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; livestock and livestock products--cattle, hogs, chickens, milk, eggs; self-sufficient in food, except for wheat; fish catch of 2.9 million metric tons, seventh-largest in world
Aid
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-85), $3.9 billion
Budget
revenues $33.6 billion; expenditures $33.6 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1990)
Currency
South Korean won (plural--won); 1 South Korean won (W) = 100 chon (theoretical)
Electricity
20,500,000 kW capacity; 80,000 million kWh produced, 1,850 kWh per capita (1989)
Exchange rates
South Korean won (W) per US$1--683.43 (January 1990), 671.46 (1989), 731.47 (1988), 822.57 (1987), 881.45 (1986), 870.02 (1985)
Exports
$62.3 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--textiles, clothing, electronic and electrical equipment, footwear, machinery, steel, automobiles, ships, fish; partners--US 33%, Japan 21%
External debt
$30.5 billion (September 1989)
Fiscal year
calendar year
GNP
$200 billion, per capita $4,600; real growth rate 6.5% (1989)
Imports
$61.3 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic chemicals, grains; partners--Japan 28%, US 25% (1990)
Industrial production
growth rate 3.5% (1989)
Industries
textiles, clothing, footwear, food processing, chemicals, steel, electronics, automobile production, ship building
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
5% (1989)
Overview
The driving force behind the economy's dynamic growth has been the planned development of an export-oriented economy in a vigorously entrepreneurial society. GNP increased almost 13% in both 1986 and 1987 and 12% in 1988 before slowing to 6.5% in 1989. Such a rapid rate of growth was achieved with an inflation rate of only 3% in the period 1986-87, rising to 7% in 1988 and 5% in 1989. Unemployment is also low, and some labor bottlenecks have appeared in several processing industries. While the South Korean economy is expected to grow at more than 5% annually during the 1990s, labor unrest--which led to substantial wage hikes in 1987-89--threatens to undermine noninflationary growth.
Unemployment rate
3% (1989)
Communications
Airports
112 total, 105 usable; 61 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 17 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
93 major transport aircraft
Highways
62,936 km total (1982); 13,476 km national highway, 49,460 km provincial and local roads
Inland waterways
1,609 km; use restricted to small native craft
Merchant marine
423 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,006,481 GRT/11,658,104 DWT; includes 2 short-sea passenger, 130 cargo, 41 container, 11 refrigerated cargo, 11 vehicle carrier, 49 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 8 chemical tanker, 10 liquefied gas, 10 combination ore/oil, 143 bulk, 7 combination bulk, 1 multifunction large-load carrier
Pipelines
294 km refined products
Ports
Pusan, Inchon, Kunsan, Mokpo, Ulsan
Railroads
3,106 km operating in 1983; 3,059 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 47 km 0.610-meter narrow gauge, 712 km double track, 418 km electrified; government owned
Telecommunications
adequate domestic and international services; 4,800,000 telephones; stations--79 AM, 46 FM, 256 TV (57 of 1 kW or greater); satellite earth stations--2 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT
Military and Security
Branches
Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps
Defense expenditures
5% of GNP, or $10 billion (1989 est.)
Military manpower
males 15-49, 12,792,426; 8,260,886 fit for military service; 445,320 reach military age (18) annually