South Korea

The Republic of Korea (ROK) is a country in eastern Asia, covering the
southern half of the peninsula of Korea. To the north its borders North
Korea with which it formed a single nation until 1948, while Japan lies
across the Korea Strait to the southeast. It is commonly known locally as
Han-guk, meaning "The Nation of Han". It is called South Chos'n or
Nam Chos'n in North Korea.

History                                          National motto: None
of South Korea.                           Language         Korean
                                          Capital          Seoul
After the end of World War II in 1945,    President        Roh Moo-hyun
Korea was divided into two zones of
influence, followed in 1948 by two        Prime minister   Goh Kun
matching governments: a communist North   Area             Ranked 107th
and a United States-influenced South. In  Ê- Total         99,274 km²
June 1950 the North invaded the South     Ê- % water       0.3%
igniting the Korean War. The United
Nations-backed South and the              Population       Ranked 25th
Chinese-backed North eventually reached a Ê- Total (2002)  48,324,000
stalemate and an armastice was signed in  Ê- Density       491/km²
1953, splitting the peninsula along a     Independence     From Japan
demilitarised zone at about the 38th      Ê- Date          August 15, 1945
parallel, which had been the original     Currency         Won
demarcation line.
                                          Time zone        UTC +9
Thereafter, the southern Republic of      National anthem  Aegukga
Korea achieved rapid economic growth,     Internet TLD     .KR
while autocratic governments and civil
unrest dominated politics until protests  Calling Code     82
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

Main article: Politics of South Korea

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.

Geography

Main article: Geography of South Korea

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

Main article: Economy of South Korea

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

Main article: Demographics of South Korea

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.

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
 May 5       Children's Day    Eorininal
 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       Ê
             Foundation Day
 December 25 Christmas