Korea, South 
Facts
Population:
47,904,370 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
21.59% (male 5,475,453; female 4,864,918)
15-64 years:
71.14% (male 17,291,202; female 16,789,380)
65 years and over:
7.27% (male 1,352,312; female 2,131,105) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.89% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
14.85 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
5.93 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.11 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.13 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.63 male(s)/female
total population:
1.01 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
7.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
74.65 years
male:
70.97 years
female:
78.74 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.72 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.01% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
3,800 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
180 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Korean(s)
adjective:
Korean
Ethnic groups:
homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)
Religions:
Christian 49%, Buddhist 47%, Confucianist 3%, Shamanist, Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way), and other 1%
Languages:
Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
98%
male:
99.3%
female:
96.7% (1995 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $764.6 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
9% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $16,100 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
5.6%
industry:
41.4%
services:
53% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
2.9%
highest 10%:
24.3% (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.3% (2000)
Labor force:
22 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation:
services 68%, industry 20%, agriculture 12% (1999)
Unemployment rate:
4.1% (2000 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$81.8 billion
expenditures:
$94.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $6.1 billion (1999)
Industries:
electronics, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, steel, textiles, clothing, footwear, food processing
Industrial production growth rate:
17% (2000)
Electricity - production:
250.287 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
59.22%
hydro:
1.64%
nuclear:
39.12%
other:
0.02% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
232.767 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish
Exports:
$172.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities:
electronic products, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, steel, ships; textiles, clothing, footwear; fish
Exports - partners:
US 20.5%, Japan 11%, China 9.5%, Hong Kong 6.3%, Taiwan 4.4% (1999)
Imports:
$160.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic chemicals, grains
Imports - partners:
US 20.8%, Japan 20.2%, China 7.4%, Saudi Arabia 4.7%, Australia 3.9% (1999)
Debt - external:
$137 billion (November 2000)
Economic aid - recipient:
$NA
Currency:
South Korean won (KRW)
Currency code:
KRW
Exchange rates:
South Korean won per US dollar - 1,271.89 (January 2001), 1,130.96 (2000), 1,188.82 (1999), 1,401.44 (1998), 951.29 (1997), 804.45 (1996)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
1 2 3 4 
Displaying 1 to 7 of 28 items.
(Conservative), Seoul
http://www.chosun.com/
Dong Huwa News Agency
(Independent news service), Seoul
(Independent), Seoul
http://www.donga.com/
Seoul
http://www.etnews.co.kr
Seoul
http://www.fnnews.com
Han'guk Kyeongje Sinmun
Seoul
(Independent), Seoul
http://www.hankooki.com/
South Korea in the News
1 2 3 4
Displaying 5 to 8 of 15 items.
Although the party leader, Chung Dong-young has already resigned over the election results, there is a serious danger that the ruling party itself is about to break up.
While U.S. leaders worry about the security implications of the Kim Jong Il regime's illicit activities, South Koreans have been bracing themselves for a transition that many ardently desire.
For the past 50 years, South Korea’s foreign policy had been in virtual lock step with the United States, through South Korea’s military dictatorships and first steps toward democracy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But President Roh Moo-hyun seems determined to keep the promises he made to his fervently nationalistic supporters during the 2002 election. The days of South Korea 'kowtowing' to the United States are over, he has said.
Time is against South Korea and the United States in their negotiations with North Korea, World Press Review correspondent David Scofield reports from Seoul.
Americas 
