# The World Factbook (1982)/Korea, South
## KOREA, SOUTHKOREA, SOUTH

* (See reference map VIII)

### LANDLAND

98,913 km$^2$; 23% arable (22% cultivated), 10% urban and other, 67% forested
Land boundaries: 241 km

### WATERWATER

Limits of territorial waters: 12 nm (fishing 200 nm)
Coastline: 2,413 km

### PEOPLEPEOPLE

Population: 41,092,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.6%
Nationality: noun—Korean(s); adjective—Korean
Ethnic divisions: homogeneous; small Chinese minority (approx. 20,000)
Religion: strong Confucian tradition; pervasive folk religion (Shamanism); vigorous Christian minority (16.6% Christian population); Buddhism (including estimated 20,000 members of Soka Gakkai); Chondokyo (religion of the heavenly way), eclectic religion with nationalist overtones founded in 19th century, claims about 1.5 million adherents
Language: Korean
Literacy: about 90%
Labor force: 14.2 million (1979); 36% agriculture, fishing, forestry; 24% mining and manufacturing; 40% services and other; average unemployment 3.8% (1979)
Organized labor: about 13% of nonagricultural labor force

### GOVERNMENTGOVERNMENT

Official name: Republic of Korea
Type: republic; power centralized in a strong executive
Capital: Seoul
Political subdivisions: 9 provinces, 2 special cities; heads centrally appointed
Legal system: combines elements of continental European civil law systems, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical ​thought; constitution approved 1980; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: 15 August
Branches: executive, legislative (unicameral), judiciary
Government leaders: President CHUN Doo Hwan; Prime Minister YOO Chang Soon
Suffrage: universal over age 20
Elections: under new constitution of October 1980, President elected every seven years indirectly by a 5,000-man electoral college; last election February 1981; four-year National Assembly, elected in March 1981, consists of 276 representatives, 184 directly elected and 92 chosen through proportional representation
Political parties and leaders: major party is the government's Democratic Justice Party (DJP), Chun Doo Hwan (president) and Yi Chae-hyong (chairman); opposition parties are Democratic Korea Party (DKP), Yu Chi-Song (president); Korean National Party (KNP), Kim Chong-Chol (president); Democratic Socialist Party (DSP), Ko Chong-hun (president); and several smaller parties
Communists: Communist activity banned by government; an estimated 37,000-50,000 former members and supporters
Other political or pressure groups: Federation of Korean Trade Unions; Korean Veterans' Association; Korean National Christian Council; large, potentially volatile, student population concentrated in Seoul
Member of: AALCC (Afro-Asian League Consultative Committee), ADB, Asian Parliamentary Union, APACL—Asian People's Anti-Communist League, ASPAC, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, Geneva Conventions of 1949 for the protection of war victims, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, IMCO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, IWC—International Whaling Commission, IWC—International Wheat Council, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNIDO, UN Special Fund, UPU, WACL—World Anti-Communist League, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO; official observer at UN; does not hold UN membership

### ECONOMYECONOMY

GNP: $56.6 billion (1980, in 1980 prices), $1,481 per capita; real growth -6.2% (1980); real growth 7.2% (1976-80 average)
Agriculture: 29% of the population live on the land, but agriculture, forestry, and fishery constitute 16% of GNP; main crops—rice, barley; food shortages—wheat, dairy products, corn
Fishing: catch 2,410,346 metric tons (1980)
Major industries: textiles and clothing, food processing, chemicals, steel, electronics, shipbuilding
Shortages: base metals, petroleum, lumber, and certain food grains
Electric power: 9,000,000 kW capacity (1980); 37.611 billion kWh produced (1979), 886 kWh per capita
Exports: $17.2 billion (f.o.b., 1980); textiles and clothing, electrical machinery, footwear, steel, ships, fish
Imports: $22.3 billion (c.i.f., 1980); machinery, oil, steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic chemicals, grains
Major trade partners: exports—26% US, 17% Japan; imports—26% Japan, 22% US (1979)
Aid: economic—US (FY46-80), $6.0 billion committed; Japan (1965-75), $1.8 billion extended; military—US (FY46–80) $7.6 billion committed
Budget: $11.8 billion (1981)
Monetary conversion rate: controlled float, 700.5 won=US$1 (31 December 1981)
Fiscal year: calendar year

### COMMUNICATIONSCOMMUNICATIONS

Highways: 46,800 km total (1980); 9,290 km national highway, 37,510 km provincial and local roads
Freight carried: rail (1980) 49 million metric tons; highway 145 million metric tons; air (1979) 14 billion metric tons (domestic)
Pipelines: 515 km refined products
Ports: 10 major, 18 minor
Civil air: 41 major transport aircraft
Airfields: 127 total, 118 usable; 63 with permanent-surface runways; 21 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 12 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: adequate domestic and international services; 2.0 million telephones (5.2 per 100 popl.); 95 AM, 19 FM, and 25 TV stations; 1 ground satellite station

### DEFENSE FORCESDEFENSE FORCES

Military manpower: males 15-49, 11,201,000; 7,560,000 fit for military service; 455,000 reach military age (18) annually
Military budget: proposed for fiscal year ending 31 December 1982, $4.6 billion; about 34% of central government budget