REPUBLIC OF KOREA
South Korea
Taehan-min'guk
GENERAL
- Area:
- 99,274 km2.
- Population:
- 44,056,000 (1993).
- Capital:
- Seoul.
- Ethnic composition:
- Korean.
- Major languages:
- Korean.
- Major religions:
- Buddhism (27%), Christianity (21%), Confucianism (12%),
Ch'ondogyo (Heavenly Way, 3%).
- History:
- By the 3rd century B.C. kingdoms were beginning to form,
and in the 4th century A.D. the period of the Three
Kingdoms began. It was followed by the Silla (668-935)
and Koryo (918-1392) periods and the Yi (Choson)
dynasty (1392-1910). Korea was ruled by Japan between
1910 and 1945. After World War II the area below the 38th
parallel was administered by the U.S. military until the
Republic of Korea was established in 1948.
GOVERNMENT
- Type:
- Republic.
- Head of state:
- President: Kim Young Sam.
- Legislature:
- The unicameral National Assembly consists of 299 members
elected to four-year terms.
- Executive:
- The prime minister is Lee Hong Koo; Gong Ro Myung is the
foreign minister.
- Domestic politics:
- Upon becoming president on February 25, 1992, Kim Young
Sam set his sights on the creation of a new Korea as a
country with a liberal and mature democracy, a just
society, and affluent and comfortable communities in
which people respect human dignity and lead a cultured
way of life. One of his administration's key goals is
securing the peninsula's reunification so that all
Koreans can live together in peace. As the first civilian
head of state in 32 years, President Kim enjoys strong
popular support. He has been striving to reform the
country's political, economic, and social institutions
in order to eliminate a number of deep-rooted problems.
As of September 1995, the ruling Democratic Liberal Party (DLP) held 167 of the National Assembly's seats. Other major forces in the assembly are the National Congress for New Politics (NCNP, 53) and the Democratic Party (DP, 42). - Foreign policy:
- During the course of 1995 the Republic of Korea has been
working on specific steps to promote globalization and
further develop reconciliation and cooperation between
the South and the North. At the same time, the government
has been seeking to pursue a foreign policy based on the
Korea-United States alliance and the Korea-Japan
relationship. The Republic of Korea has diplomatic
relations with 178 countries, of which 128 also have ties
with North Korea.
- Military:
- Defense budget, $14.0 billion (1994); regular armed
forces (conscripted) consist of 520,000 members of the
army, 60,000 members of the navy, and 53,000 members of
the air force (The Military Balance 1994-95).
SOUTH-NORTH RELATIONSHIP
A number of South-North prime ministerial talks have been held since September 1990. The sixth meeting in February 1992 resulted in an agreement on reconciliation, non-aggression, and exchange and cooperation. A joint declaration on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was made at the same time. The ninth meeting scheduled for December 1992 was canceled, however. Further meetings have not been arranged, nor has there been any prospect for the implementation of mutual inspections as stipulated in the denuclearization declaration. South-North trade amounted to $186.6 million in 1993 and $194.5 million in 1994 (customs-clearance basis).
ECONOMY
- Major industries:
- Textiles, petrochemicals, steel, shipbuilding, machinery,
electronics, automobiles.
- Nominal GNP:
- $328.7 billion (1993).
- Per capita GNP:
- $7,466 (1993).
- Real growth rate:
- 5.6% (1993).
- Inflation:
- 4.8% (1993).
- Unemployment:
- 2.4% (1993).
- Trade: Exports:
- $82.2 billion; imports: $83.8 billion (1993,
customs-clearance basis).
- Principal items traded:
- Exports: textile products, electronic products,
machinery, metal products, automobiles, ships, chemical
products; imports: fuels, machinery, electric products,
chemical products, light industry materials.
- Principal trading partners:
- Exports: United States, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Germany;
imports: Japan, United States, Germany, China, Chinese
Taipei.
- Currency:
- Won. US$1=798.90 won, 1 yen=8.11 won (Sep. 30, 1994).
- Economic conditions:
- In 1993 the Korean economy began recovering from a
recession. Although the business climate was adversely
affected by a new regulation requiring the use of real
names in financial transactions (August) and a decline in
earnings from agriculture, the trade balance improved
substantially thanks to brisk sales of such exports as
automobiles. The upturn continued in 1994, but the
resulting expansion of imports caused the trade balance
to move into deficit. Currently the economy continue to
be in a good condition thanks to strong domestic demand.
The GDP growth rate was 9.9% in the first quarter of
1995. Still there has also been a rapid increase in the
trade deficit. The government in May 1995 announced a
package of new measures to strengthen the capital goods
industry, whose weakness has been one of the major
reasons for the continued import increase.
BILATERAL RELATIONS
- Political:
- Japan and the Republic of Korea normalized their
relations in 1965, and since then their leaders have been
exchanging visits frequently. The present decade began
with a visit to Japan by President Roh Tae Woo in 1990,
and the next year Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu called on
Seoul. Early in 1992 Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa
visited Korea, and late that year President Roh visited
Kyoto. Toward the end of 1993 Prime Minister Morihiro
Hosokawa went to Kyongju. In March 1994 President Kim
Young Sam visited Japan, and Prime Minister Tomiichi
Murayama went to Seoul.
- Trade:
- Exports to Japan: $13.5 billion, featuring textile
products, metal products, electric products, machinery,
fish and shellfish; imports from Japan: $24.3 billion,
featuring machinery, electric products, chemical
products, steel, consumer durables (1994,
customs-clearance basis, provisional).
- Investment:
- Japanese direct investment in the Republic of Korea
amounted to $428 million in 1994.
- Cultural:
- Exchanges of people and culture between Japan and the
Republic of Korea have been steadily expanding with the
help of government-level youth exchange programs and
programs focusing on intellectual and cultural
activities. There has also been an increase in
spontaneous exchange initiated at the regional level. A
number of aspects of Japanese culture, such as films and
popular music, are subject to restriction in Korea. But
bunraku, kabuki, and other traditional Japanese
performing arts began to be staged in Seoul during the
1980s, and recently a variety of such performances have
been presented. In 1992 Korea sent a cultural promotion
mission to Japan, while in 1994 Japan sent a large-scale
mission to Korea to introduce Japanese culture.
- Japanese residing in the Republic of Korea:
- 9,197 (Oct. 1994).
- Koreans residing in Japan:
- 676,793, (Dec. 1994).
- Visits by eminent persons:
- Japan to the Republic of Korea: House of Representatives
Speaker Yoshio Sakurauchi (1993), Liberal Democratic
Party Secretary General Seiroku Kajiyama (1993), Foreign
Minister Kabun Muto (1993), International Trade and
Industry Minister Hiroshi Kumagai (1993), Japan-Korea
Parliamentarians' Union President Noboru Takeshita
(1993), Science and Technology Agency Director General
Wakako Hironaka (1993), Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa
(1993), Posts and Telecommunications Minister Katsuyuki
Hikasa (1994), Foreign Minister Koji Kakizawa (1994),
Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama (1994), Foreign Minister
Yohei Kono (1994), Posts and Telecommunications Minister
Shun Oide (1994, 1995), House of Councillors Speaker
Bunbei Hara (1994), Chief Cabinet Secretary Kozo Igarashi
(1994);
Republic of Korea to Japan: Foreign Minister Han Sung Joo (1993, 1994), Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Planning Minister Lee Kyung Shik (1993), Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union President Kim Yoon Whan (1993, 1995), President Kim Young Sam and his wife (1994), National Defense Minister Rhee Byoung Tae (1994), Trade, Industry, and Resources Minister Kim Chul Su (1994), Foreign Minister Gong Ro Myung (1995), Korea-Japan Friendship Association Chairman Kim Su Hang (1995). - Treaties and agreements:
- Treaty on Basic Relations Between Japan and the Republic
of Korea (1965), Agreement on Fisheries Between Japan and
the Republic of Korea (1965), Agreement on the Settlement
of Problem Concerning Property and Claims and on Economic
Cooperation Between Japan and the Republic of Korea
(1965), Agreement on Art Objects and Cultural Cooperation
Between Japan and the Republic of Korea (1965), Agreement
on the Legal Status and the Treatment of the Nationals of
the Republic of Korea Residing in Japan Between Japan and
the Republic of Korea (1966), Trade Agreement Between
Japan and the Republic of Korea (1966), Agreement Between
the Government of Japan and the Government of the
Republic of Korea for Air Services (1967), Agreement
Between Japan and the Republic of Korea Concerning Joint
Development of the Southern Part of the Continental Shelf
Adjacent to the Two Countries (1978), Agreement Between
Japan and the Republic of Korea Concerning the
Establishment of Boundary in the Northern Part of the
Continental Shelf Adjacent to the Two Countries (1978),
Agreement Between the Government of Japan and the
Government of the Republic of Korea on Cooperation in the
Field of Science and Technology (1985), Exchange of Notes
Between the Government of Japan and the Government of the
Republic of Korea Concerning an Intensification of
Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (1990),
Agreement Between the Government of Japan and the
Government of the Republic of Korea on Maritime Search
and Rescue and Emergency Refuge of Vessels (1990),
Agreement Between the Government of Japan and the
Government of the Republic of Korea Concerning Transfer
of Costumes and Other Items Connected with the Late Yi
Masako (Princess Yi) (1991), Agreement Between the
Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of
Korea on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental
Protection (1993).
(October 1995)
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