South Korea

mean elevation:

282 m

elevation extremes:

0 m lowest point: Sea of Japan; 1950 highest point: Halla-san

• with approximately 70% of the country considered mountainous, the country's population is primarily concentrated in the lowland areas, where density is quite high;
• Gyeonggi Province in the northwest, which surrounds the capital of Seoul and contains the port of Incheon, is the most densely populated province;
• Gangwon in the northeast is the least populated

• occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods;
• low-level seismic activity common in southwest volcanism: Halla (1,950 m) is considered historically active although it has not erupted in many centuries

• air pollution in large cities;
• acid rain;
• water pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents;
• drift net fishing;
• solid waste disposal;
• transboundary pollution

noun:

Korean(s)

adjective:

Korean

0-14 years:

13.03% (male 3,448,627 /female 3,251,786)

15-24 years:

12.19% (male 3,295,814 /female 2,970,439)

25-54 years:

45.13% (male 11,986,760 /female 11,220,268)

55-64 years:

15.09% (male 3,825,127 /female 3,935,700)

65 years and over:

14.55% (male 3,202,232 /female 4,281,344) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

36.7 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

19 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

17.7 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

5.6 (2015 est.)

• with approximately 70% of the country considered mountainous, the country's population is primarily concentrated in the lowland areas, where density is quite high;
• Gyeonggi Province in the northwest, which surrounds the capital of Seoul and contains the port of Incheon, is the most densely populated province;
• Gangwon in the northeast is the least populated

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

0-14 years:

1.07 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

15-24 years:

1.12 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

25-54 years:

1.06 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

55-64 years:

0.98 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

65 years and over:

0.71 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

total population:

1 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Korea

conventional short form:

South Korea

local long form:

Taehan-min'guk

local short form:

Han'guk

abbreviation:

ROK

etymology:

• derived from the Chinese name for Goryeo, which was the Korean dynasty that united the peninsula in the 10th century A.D.;
• the South Korean name "Han'guk" derives from the long form, "Taehan-min'guk," which is itself a derivation from "Daehan-je'guk," which means "the Great Empire of the Han";
• "Han" refers to the "Sam'han" or the "Three Han Kingdoms" (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla from the Three Kingdoms Era, 1st-7th centuries A.D.)

name:

Seoul; note - Sejong, located some 120 km (75 mi) south of Seoul, is being developed as a new capital

geographic coordinates:

37 33 N, 126 59 E

time difference:

UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• 9 provinces (do, singular and plural), 6 metropolitan cities (gwangyeoksi, singular and plural), 1 special city (teugbyeolsi), and 1 special self-governing city (teukbyeoljachisi) provinces:
  • Chungbuk (North Chungcheong),
  • Chungnam (South Chungcheong),
  • Gangwon,
  • Gyeongbuk (North Gyeongsang),
  • Gyeonggi,
  • Gyeongnam (South Gyeongsang),
  • Jeju,
  • Jeonbuk (North Jeolla),
  • Jeonnam (South Jeolla)
  ;
• metropolitan cities:
  • Busan (Pusan),
  • Daegu (Taegu),
  • Daejeon (Taejon),
  • Gwangju (Kwangju),
  • Incheon (Inch'on),
  • Ulsan
  ;
• special city: Seoul;
• special self-governing city: Sejong

history:

several previous; latest passed by National Assembly 12 October 1987, approved in referendum 28 October 1987, effective 25 February 1988 (2018)

amendments:

• proposed by the president or by majority support of the National Assembly membership;
• passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly membership, approval in a referendum by more than one-half of the votes by more than one-half of eligible voters, and promulgation by the president;
• amended several times, last in 1987;
• note - an amendment proposed in March 2018 that would change the presidential term to 4 years and increase the term limit to 2 failed in the National Assembly vote in June 2018 (2018)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of South Korea

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

highest courts:

Supreme Court of South Korea (consists of a chief justice and 13 justices); Constitutional Court (consists of a court head and 8 justices)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly;
• other justices appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the chief justice and consent of the National Assembly;
• position of the chief justice is a 6-year nonrenewable term;
• other justices serve 6-year renewable terms;
• Constitutional Court justices appointed - 3 by the president, 3 by the National Assembly, and 3 by the Supreme Court chief justice;
• court head serves until retirement at age 70, while other justices serve 6-year renewable terms with mandatory retirement at age 65

subordinate courts:

• High Courts;
• District Courts;
• Branch Courts (organized under the District Courts);
• specialized courts for family and administrative issues

chief of state:

• President MOON Jae-in (since 10 May 2017);
• note - President PARK Geun-hye (since 25 February 2013) was impeached by the National Assembly on 9 December 2016;
• PARK's impeachment was upheld by the Constitutional Court and she was removed from office on 9 March 2017

head of government:

Prime Minister LEE Nak-yon (since 1 June 2017); Deputy Prime Ministers KIM Dong-yeon (since 9 June 2017), KIM Sang-kon (since 4 July 2017)

cabinet:

State Council appointed by the president on the prime minister's recommendation

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a single 5-year term;
• election last held on 9 May 2017 (next to be held in 2022);
• prime minister appointed by president with consent of National Assembly

election results:

MOON Jae-in elected president; percent of vote - MOON Jae-in (DP) 41.1%, HONG Joon-pyo (LKP) 25.5%, AHN Cheol-soo (PP) 21.4%, other 12%

description:

• unicameral National Assembly or Kuk Hoe (300 seats statutory, 299 current);
• 253 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 47 directly elected in a single national constituency by proportional representation vote;
• members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 13 April 2016 (next to be held on 15 April 2020)

election results:

percent of vote by party - NFP 33.5%, PP 26.7%, MPK 25.5%, JP 7.2%, other 7.1%; seats by party - MPK 123, NFP 122, PP 38, JP 6, independent 11

note: as of December 2018, seats by party - DP 129, LKP 112, BFP 29, PDP 14, JP 5, KPP 1, MP 1, independent 7

chief of mission:

Ambassador CHO Yoon-je (since 29 November 2017)

chancery:

2450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 939-5600

FAX:

[1] (202) 797-0595

consulate(s) general:

Agana (Guam), Anchorage (AK), Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle

chief of mission:

Ambassador Harry HARRIS (since 10 July 2018)

embassy:

188 Sejong-daero, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-710

mailing address:

US Embassy Seoul, 9600 Seoul Place Washington, D.C., 20521-9600

telephone:

[82] (2) 397-4114

FAX:

[82] (2) 725-0152

• 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;
• the South Korean national flag is called Taegukki;
• white is a traditional Korean color and represents peace and purity;
• the blue section represents the negative cosmic forces of the yin, while the red symbolizes the opposite positive forces of the yang;
• each trigram (kwae) denotes one of the four universal elements, which together express the principle of movement and harmony

name:

"Aegukga" (Patriotic Song)

lyrics/music:

YUN Ch'i-Ho or AN Ch'ang-Ho/AHN Eaktay

note: adopted 1948, well-known by 1910; both North Korea's and South Korea's anthems share the same name and have a vaguely similar melody but have different lyrics

agriculture:

4.8%

industry:

24.6%

services:

70.6% (2017 est.)

lowest 10%:

48.5% (2015 est.)

highest 10%:

48.5% (2015 est.)

general assessment:

• excellent domestic and international services featuring rapid incorporation of new technologies;
• ranked 1st out of 34 Asian telecoms;
• exceedingly high mobile and mobile broadband penetration and very high fixed broadband penetration;
• strong support from govt, savvy population has catapulted the nation into one of the world's most active telecommunication markets;
• 5G services to go live for enterprise customers in 2019;
• slower growth predicted over the next five years to 2023;
• Chinese telecommunications company Huawei has partnered with other MNOs in South Korea (2017)

domestic:

• fixed-line 52 per 100 and mobile-cellular services 124 per 100 persons widely available;
• rapid assimilation of a full range of telecommunications technologies leading to a boom in e-commerce (2017)

international:

• country code - 82;
• numerous submarine cables provide links throughout Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Europe, and US;
• satellite earth stations - 66 (2016)

• multiple national TV networks with 2 of the 3 largest networks publicly operated;
• the largest privately owned network, Seoul Broadcasting Service (SBS), has ties with other commercial TV networks;
• cable and satellite TV subscription services available;
• publicly operated radio broadcast networks and many privately owned radio broadcasting networks, each with multiple affiliates, and independent local stations (2017)

number of registered air carriers:

12 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 348 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

65,482,307 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

11.297 billion mt-km (2015)

total:

3,979 km (2016)

standard gauge:

3,979 km 1.435-m gauge (2,727 km electrified) (2016)

total:

100,428 km (2016)

paved:

92,795 km (includes 4,193 km of expressways) (2016)

unpaved:

7,633 km (2016)

total:

1,907 (2017)

by type:

bulk carrier 100, container ship 89, general cargo 394, oil tanker 201, other 1123 (2017)

major seaport(s):

Busan, Incheon, Gunsan, Kwangyang, Mokpo, Pohang, Ulsan, Yeosu

container port(s) (TEUs):

Busan (19,850,000), Kwangyang (2,249,558), Incheon (2,679,504) (2016)

LNG terminal(s) (import):

Incheon, Kwangyang, Pyeongtaek, Samcheok, Tongyeong, Yeosu

• 18-35 years of age for compulsory military service, with middle school education required;
• minimum conscript service obligation - 21 months (Army, Marines), 23 months (Navy), 24 months (Air Force);
• 18-26 years of age for voluntary military service;
• women, in service since 1950, admitted to 7 service branches, including infantry, but excluded from artillery, armor, anti-air, and chaplaincy corps;
• HIV-positive individuals are exempt from military service (2017)