South Korea

An independent Korean state or collection of states has existed almost continuously for several millennia. Between its initial unification in the 7th century - from three predecessor Korean states - until the 20th century, Korea existed as a single independent country. In 1905, following the Russo-Japanese War, Korea became a protectorate of imperial Japan, and in 1910 it was annexed as a colony. Korea regained its independence following Japan's surrender to the United States in 1945. After World War II, a Republic of Korea (ROK) was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a Communist-style government was installed in the north (the DPRK). During the Korean War (1950-53), US troops and UN forces fought alongside soldiers from the ROK to defend South Korea from DPRK attacks supported by China and the Soviet Union. An armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a demilitarized zone at about the 38th parallel. Thereafter, South Korea achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising to roughly 14 times the level of North Korea. In 1993, KIM Young-sam became South Korea's first civilian president following 32 years of military rule. South Korea today is a fully functioning modern democracy. In June 2000, a historic first North-South summit took place between the South's President KIM Dae-jung and the North's leader KIM Jong Il. In October 2007, a second North-South summit took place between the South's President ROH Moo-hyun and the North Korean leader. Harsh rhetoric and unwillingness by North Korea to engage with President LEE Myung-bak following his February 2008 inauguration has strained inter-Korean relations.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: South Korean won (ISO code: KRW)
* This country does not seem to have a central bank.
* Central bank discount rate: 1.75% (31 December 2008)
* Commercial banks lending rate: 7.17% (31 December 2008)
* Stock of money (M1): $73.16 billion (31 December 2008)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $473.4 billion (31 December 2008)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "South Korea: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	445 399	533 384	504 586	575 929	643 762	721 975	844 863	951 773	1 049 240	929 121
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "South Korea: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "South Korea: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	20.020 	22.321 	21.778 	21.573 	21.928 	21.194 	21.791 	22.678 	24.577 	
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "South Korea: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.	16.583 	16.626 	17.725 	16.815 	18.886 	18.862 	19.718 	20.529 	18.622 	
Debt to revenue (years) 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* South Korea on Wikipedia
* Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
* BBC country profile
Category:Countries