South Korea


                                          National motto:  None
History                                   Official
                                          language         Korean
Main articles: History of Korea, History  Capital          Seoul
of South Korea.                           President        Roh Moo-hyun
After the end of World War II in 1945,    Prime minister   Goh Kun
Korea was divided into two zones of       Area             Ranked 107th
influence, followed in 1948 by two        Ê- Total         99,274 km²
matching governments: a communist North   Ê- % water       0.3%
and a United States-influenced South. In
June 1950 the North invaded the South     Population       Ranked 25th
igniting the Korean War. The United       Ê- Total (2002)  48,324,000
Nations-backed South and the              Ê- Density       491/km²
Chinese-backed North eventually reached a Independence     From Japan
stalemate and an armastice was signed in  Ê- Date          August 15, 1945
1953, splitting the peninsula along a     Currency         Won
demilitarised zone at about the 38th
parallel, which had been the original     Time zone        UTC +9
demarcation line.                         National anthem  Aegukga
                                          Internet TLD     .KR
Thereafter, the southern Republic of
Korea achieved rapid economic growth,     Calling Code     82
while autocratic governments and civil
unrest dominated politics until protests succeeded in starting democratic
reforms. A potential Korean reunification has remained a prominent topic and
no peace treaty has yet been signed with the North. In June 2000, a historic
first North-South summit took place, part of the South's continuing
"Sunshine Policy" of engagement, despite recent concerns over the North's
nuclear weapons programme.

Politics

Head of state of the republic of Korea is the president, who is elected by
direct popular vote for a single five-year term. In addition to being the
highest representative of the republic and commander-in-chief of the armed
forces, the president also has considerable executive powers and appoints
the prime minister with approval of parliament, as well as appointing and
presiding over the State Council or cabinet.

The unicameral Korean parliament is the National Assembly or Kukhoe, whose
members serve a four-year term of office. The legislature currently has 273
seats, of which 227 are elected by popular vote and the remainder are
distributed proportionately among parties winning five seats or more. This
system, possibly along with the number of seats, will be revised starting in
2004. The highest judiciary body is the Supreme Court, whose justices are
appointed by the president with the consent of parliament.

Provinces and Cities

South Korea consists of 9 provinces  and 7 metropolitan cities, marked by a *:

   * Busan *
   * North Chungcheong
   * South Chungcheong
   * Daegu *
   * Daejeon *
   * Gangwon
   * Gwangju *
   * Gyeonggi
   * North Gyeongsang
   * South Gyeongsang
   * Incheon *
   * Jeju
   * North Jeolla
   * South Jeolla
   * Seoul *
   * Ulsan *

Geography

Korea forms a peninsula that extends some 1,100 km from the Asian mainland,
flanked by the Yellow Sea to the west and the Sea of Japan (a disputed name,
called the East Sea by Koreans) to the east, and terminated by the Korea
Strait and the East China Sea to the south. The southern landscape consists
of partially forested mountain ranges to the east, separated by deep, narrow
valleys. Densely populated and cultivated coastal plains are found in the
west and south.

The local climate is relatively temperate, with precipitation heavier in
summer during a short rainy season called jangma, and winters that can be
bitterly cold on occasion. South Korea's capital and largest city is Seoul
in the northwest, other major cities include nearby Incheon, central
Daejeon, Gwangju in the southwest and Daegu and Busan in the southeast.

Economy

As one of the four East Asian Tigers, 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 labour 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 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.

Demographics

Korea's population is one of the most ethnically and linguistically
homogenous in the world, with the only minority being a small Chinese
community. Koreans have lived in Manchuria for many centuries, who are now a
minority in China, and Joseph Stalin sent thousands of Koreans, against
their will, to Central Asia (in the former U.S.S.R.) from Vladivostok, while
the Korean population in Japan moved there during the colonial period.

Political, social and economic instability in South Korea have driven many
South Koreans to emmigrate to foreign countries, amongst which the
friendship, freedom and opportunities provided by the United States and
Canada render popularity.

The city of Seoul is the most populated single city (excluding greater
metropolitan areas) in the world that human civilization has yet to build.
Its density has allowed it to become one of the most "digitally-wired"
cities in today's globally connected ecomony.

The Korean language is a member of a wider linguistic family of the Altaic
languages. The Korean writing system, Hangeul, was invented in 1446 by King
Sejong to widely spread education --- as Chinese characters were thought to
be too difficult and time consuming for a common person to learn --- through
the Royal proclamation of Hoonminjungeum [????/????)] which literally means
the "proper sounds to teach the general public." It is different from the
Chinese form of written communication as it is phonetically based.

Numerous underlying words still stem from Hanja and older people in Korea
still prefer to write words in Hanja, as they were strictly forbidden to
study and speak the Korean language when Japan ruled. Koreans are the only
people in the world who fully understand how, when and why their written
language was created through the transcripts of King Sejong's innovative
contribution.

In 2000 the government decided to introduce a new romanisation system, which
this article also uses. English is taught as a second language in most
primary and intermediate schools. Those students in highschool are also
taught 2 years of either Chinese, Japanese, French, German or Spanish as an
elective course.

Christianity (49%) and Buddhism (47%) comprise South Korea's two dominant
religions. Though only 3% identified themselves as Confucianists, Korean
society remains highly imbued with Confucian values and beliefs. The
remaining 1% of the population practice Shamanism (traditional spirit
worship) and Cheondogyo ("Heavenly Way"), a traditional religion.

Culture

                                  Holidays
    Date        English Name       Local Name              Remarks
 January 1   New Year's Day    Ê                  Ê
 January 1   Lunar New Year's
 (Lunar)     Day               Seollal            Usually in early February
                                                  Independence Movement
 March 1     Independence      Samil Jeol 3.1     under Japanese
             Movement Day
                                                  Colonisation in 1919
 April 5     Arbor Day         Singmogil      Ê
 May 5       Children's Day    Eorininal    Ê
 April 8                       Bucheonim Osinnal
 (Lunar)     Buddha's Birthday                    Usually in late May
 June 6      Memorial Day      Hyeonchung-il

 July 17     Constitution Day  Jehyeonjeol        The first Constitution
                                                  proclaimed in 1948
                                                  Independence from
 August 15   Liberation Day    Gwangbokjeol       Japanese Colonisation in
                                                  1945
 August 15
 (Lunar)     Thanks Giving Day Chuseok            Usually in late September

 October 3   National          Gaecheonjeol    
             Foundation Day
 December 25 Christmas         Ê                  Ê

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