Table of Contents Chapter 1 1 Country Overview 1 Country Overview 2 Key Data 3 Korea, South 4 Asia 5 Chapter 2 7 Political Overview 7 History 8 Political Conditions 10 Political Risk Index 72 Political Stability 87 Freedom Rankings 102 Human Rights 114 Government Functions 117 Government Structure 118 Principal Government Officials 123 Leader Biography 126 Leader Biography 126 Foreign Relations 128 National Security 269 Defense Forces 272 Chapter 3 274 Economic Overview 274 Economic Overview 275 Nominal GDP and Components 278 Population and GDP Per Capita 280 Real GDP and Inflation 281 Government Spending and Taxation 282 Money Supply, Interest Rates and Unemployment 283 Foreign Trade and the Exchange Rate 284 Data in US Dollars 285 Energy Consumption and Production Standard Units 286 Energy Consumption and Production QUADS 288 World Energy Price Summary 289 CO2 Emissions 290 Agriculture Consumption and Production 291 World Agriculture Pricing Summary 294 Metals Consumption and Production 295 World Metals Pricing Summary 298 Economic Performance Index 299 Chapter 4 311 Investment Overview 311 Foreign Investment Climate 312 Foreign Investment Index 317 Corruption Perceptions Index 330 Competitiveness Ranking 341 Taxation 350 Stock Market 351 Partner Links 351 Chapter 5 353 Social Overview 353 People 354 Human Development Index 356 Life Satisfaction Index 359 Happy Planet Index 371 Status of Women 380 Global Gender Gap Index 382 Culture and Arts 392 Etiquette 392 Travel Information 395 Diseases/Health Data 405 Chapter 6 411 Environmental Overview 411 Environmental Issues 412 Environmental Policy 413 Greenhouse Gas Ranking 414 Global Environmental Snapshot 425 Global Environmental Concepts 436 International Environmental Agreements and Associations 451 Appendices 475 Bibliography 476 Korea, South Chapter 1 Country Overview Korea, South Review 2016 Page 1 of 487 pages Korea, South Country Overview SOUTH KOREA In August 1948 the Republic of Korea (R.O.K.) was established, with Syngman Rhee as the first president. North Korean troops invaded the south in June 1950, starting the three-year Korean War. An armistice ended the war in 1953, but a permanent peace treaty has never been signed. In the following decades, South Korea experienced political turmoil under autocratic leadership. President Syngman Rhee was forced to resign in April 1960 following a student-led uprising. The leadership of President Chang Myon ended after only one year when Major General Park Chung- hee led a military coup. Park's rule, which resulted in tremendous economic growth and development but increasingly restricted political freedoms, ended with his assassination in 1979. Subsequently, a powerful group of military officers, led by Lieutenant General Chun Doo-hwan, declared martial law and took power. Throughout the Park and Chun eras, South Korea developed a vocal civil society that led to strong protests against authoritarian rule. Intensified pro-democracy activities ultimately forced political concessions by the government in 1987, including the restoration of direct presidential elections. In 1987, Roh Tae-woo, a former general, was elected president, but additional democratic advances during his tenure resulted in the 1992 election of a long-time pro-democracy activist Kim Young-sam, who became Korea's first civilian elected president in 32 years. The 1997 presidential election and peaceful transition of power marked another step forward in Korea's democratization when Kim Dae-jung, a life-long democracy and human rights activist, was elected from a major opposition party. The transition to an open, democratic system was further consolidated in the following years, although as of 2015, South Korea must grapple with the challenge of corruption. Korea, South Review 2016 Page 2 of 487 pages Korea, South Key Data Key Data Region: Asia Population: 49115196 Climate: Temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than in winter. Languages: Korean, English widely taught in high school Currency: 1 South Korean won (W) = 100 chun (theoretical) Holiday: Independence Day is 15 August (1948), Memorial Day is 6 June Area Total: 98480 Area Land: 98190 Coast Line: 2413 Korea, South Review 2016 Page 3 of 487 pages Korea, South Korea, South Country Map Korea, South Review 2016 Page 4 of 487 pages Korea, South Asia Regional Map Korea, South Review 2016 Page 5 of 487 pages Korea, South Korea, South Review 2016 Page 6 of 487 pages Korea, South Chapter 2 Political Overview Korea, South Review 2016 Page 7 of 487 pages Korea, South History According to the legend, Tangun, the god-king, founded the Korean nation in 2333 before the common era or B.C.E,. The Korean Peninsula was divided into the kingdoms of Silla, Koguryo and Paekche by the first century in the common era or C.E. All the three kingdoms achieved centralization of power and developed highly sophisticated cultures. In 688 C.E., with the support of China, the Silla kingdom unified the peninsula by conquering Paekche in 660 and Koguryo in 668 C.E. In 676 C.E., Silla drove out the Chinese and gained complete control of the Korean peninsula. In 918 C.E., Wang Kon, succeeding the Silla kingdom, founded the Koryo dynasty and eventually expanded its territory to the Yalu River. The Koryo ruling class consisted largely of the provincial castle lords and former Silla aristocrats. They held Buddhism as their religion and Confucianism as their political principles. In 1231, the Mongolian invaders occupied Koryo. After vainly resisting for nearly 30 years, the Koryo regime signed a peace treaty with the invaders in 1258. A new land-distribution system was established in later years with the support of General Yi Song- gye, and the land was granted according to the rank of office by this new system. The land reforms as well as the new system brought the Koryo dynasty's end. In 1392, the Choson (Yi) dynasty was established and it lasted until 1910 when the Japanese annexed Korea. In 1592 and 1597, the Japanese twice invaded Korea. The Japanese invaders withdrew from Korea after the Japanese military leader Toyotomi died in 1598. In 1627, the Manchu occupied northern Korea. In 1636, the Manchu overran Seoul and the Korean king surrendered to the Manchu invaders. Korea had been an independent nation during the Choson dynasty though it paid fealty to China until the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-95 and Russo-Japanese War in 1904-05. Japan annexed Korea as part of its empire in 1910 after it won both wars. Korea had been under the Japanese control until the end of World War II in 1945. Korea was liberated from the Japanese rule when Japan surrendered to the Allied forces in August 1945, but in the mean time liberation did not bring Korea independence. The Yalta Conference held in February 1945 did not produce any formal agreement on the future status of Korea among Korea, South Review 2016 Page 8 of 487 pages Korea, South the Allied powers, only agreeing to establish a four-power trusteeship over Korea. On Aug. 11, 1945, the United States drafted the General Order Number One for Japanese surrender terms in Korea, providing for Japanese forces north of the 38th parallel to surrender to the Soviets and those of south of that line to the Americans. With the Soviet Union agreeing to the order, Korea was divided into two zones at that time. In December 1945, a joint Soviet-American commission was established for the future settlement of Korea at a conference held in Moscow, but the commission was deadlocked over the issue of establishing a national government in Korea. As early as Sept. 6, 1945, during a meeting South Korean delegates from various groups proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of Korea, but the U.S. military government refused to recognize the republic. Later on, the exiled Korean provisional government was also denied government power but only a political party on their returning. The U.S. policy in Korea was to set up a trusteeship to replace both the American and the Soviet occupation forces in the country. In contrast to the U.S., the Soviet Union set up a communist-controlled government in the North by placing some expatriate Korean communists in key positions of power. As the United States and the Soviet Union disagreed with each other's proposal for a unified Korean national government, the United States presented the Korean question to the United Nations in September 1947. In November, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the proposal by the United States to hold a general election in Korea under the observation of the U.N. Temporary Commission on Korea. Although the commission was barred from entering the North by the Soviet Union, the South held elections on May 10, 1948. On Aug. 15, the Republic of Korea was inaugurated, and in December the U.N. General Assembly declared that the republic was the only lawful government in Korea. In the North, on Sept. 9, 1948, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was established with Kim Il Sung appointed as premier. On Oct. 12, the Soviet Union recognized the DPRK as the only lawful government in Korea. The division of Korea was originally meant to be temporary to facilitate the Japanese surrender, but the Cold War led to the establishment of two separate nations. A unified Korea was out of the question in the meantime. Upon establishment, the Republic of Korea adopted a presidential system and Syngman Rhee was elected the first president of the republic. Rhee was re-elected as president in August 1952. In 1954, Rhee succeeded in forcing the National Assembly, then dominated by the ruling party, to pass an amendment that exempted him from what was then a two-term limit on the presidency. In May 1956, Rhee was re-elected president for his third term.