Rice-growing and fisheries dominate the agricultural sector which is an important export earner as well as meeting domestic demand.
Tourism dominates the service sector which is relatively small but growing.
Compared with the North, which has extensive coal and mineral deposits, the South is relatively poor in natural resources, although there have been recent offshore discoveries of natural gas which should help to reduce South Korea's dependence on imported energy. However, the structural problems of the South Korean economy have yet to be fully addressed. The USA and Japan are South Korea's main trading partners, followed by China, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore. Korean companies have been making inroads into new and emerging markets such as China and Russia. Businessmen are expected to wear a suit and tie.