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South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (or ROK) and often referred to as Korea (Korean: 대한민국, IPA: [tɛː.han.min.ɡuk̚], Hanja: 大韓民國) is a presidential republic in East Asia, occupying the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its Korean name means "The Great Nation of the Korean People," sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Morning Calm." It is bordered by North Korea to the north, with which it was united until 1945, China to the west and Japan to the east. Its capital and largest city is Seoul, the world's second largest metropolitan city.
Korea is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, with its foundation dating back to 2333 BC by the legendary Dangun Wanggeom. Archaeological research shows that Koreans inhabited the peninsula as early as the Lower Paleolithic. Following the unification of the Three Korean Kingdoms under Silla in 668 AD, Korea went through the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasty as one nation until the end of the Korean Empire in 1910. After division, South Korea was established in 1948 and has since rapidly recovered from the Japanese invasion (1910–1945) and Korean war (1950–1953), operating a succesful and stable democracy since the first direct election in 1987.
South Korea is a major global economic power and one of the wealthiest countries in Asia. It had one of the most successful and fastest growing economies in the world since the 1960s, now highly developed and one of the three largest in Asia and 13th largest in the world. Forming the G20 industrial nations and the world's top ten exporters, it is an APEC and OECD member, defined as a High Income Nation by the World Bank and an Advanced Economy by the IMF and CIA. A global military power, it has the world's sixth largest armed forces and one of the ten highest military expenditures in the world. Nicknamed as an Asian Tiger, it is still among the world's fastest growing developed countries and a Next Eleven state, forecasted to surpass the income per capita of Germany, UK and France in 16 years.Today, its success story is known as the "Miracle on the Han River", a role model for many developing countries.
South Korea plays a key role in international trade and is one of the world's leading countries in science and technology. It has a very advanced and modern infrastructure and is a world leader in information technology such as electronics, telecommunications, semiconductors, LCD displays, computers, cell phones and high-tech gadgets, led by Samsung and LG. Home of the world's third largest steel producer, POSCO, it is the world's largest shipbuilder and one of the world's top five automobile manufacturers, headed by Hyundai and Kia. It is also a leading country in engineering, construction, machinery, textiles, petrochemicals, biotechnology and robotics.
South Korea Military
The South Korean military is composed of the Army (ROKA), the Navy (ROKN), the Air Force (ROKAF), and the Marine Corps (ROKMC), together with reserve forces. Many of these forces are concentrated near the border with North Korea, near the demilitarized zone. All South Korean males are constitutionally required to serve in the military, typically for a period of two years. However, there has been debates about shortening the length of the military services, and even dismissing the mandatory service itself. The government recently allowed some male students who were in the process of earning a university bachelor's degree and master's degree to dismiss the military requirements to let them to further study and research on their fields.
From time to time, South Korea has sent its troops overseas to assist American forces. It has participated in most major conflicts that the United States has been involved in the past 50 years. South Korea dispatched 320,000 troops to fight alongside American, Australian and South Vietnamese soldiers in the Vietnam War, with a peak strength of 50,000. Most recently, South Korea sent 3,300 troops of the Zaytun Division to help re-building in northern Iraq, and is the largest contributor in the coalition forces after the US and Britain.
The United States has stationed a substantial contingent of troops in South Korea since the Korean War to defend South Korea in case of a North Korean attack. There are also approximately 29,000 US soldiers stationed in Korea, most of them serving one year of unaccompanied tours. The American Troops ,which call "8th ARMY" are stationed in bases [Osan, Youngsan, Dongducheon, Sungbok,and Daegu], of which most are camps, which are considered camps not for their lack of buildings or support structure but in order to represent a lack of permanence.
A still functioning UN Command controls all forces in South Korea, including the US forces and the entire Korean military.
Currently, the South Korean navy is working towards being a blue-water navy. It has recently acquired its first Aegis combat system-enabled destroyer, the King Sejong the Great class destroyer. South Korea is the fifth country to begin operating an Aegis Combat System-enabled surface ship.
South Korea Economy
South Korea is a major global economic power, having the 12th largest economy in the world and the third largest in Asia, forming the "Big Three" economies in Asia along with China and Japan. Its largest trading partner and export market today is China. South Korea has achieved rapid economic growth through exports of manufactured goods, and was one of the Four Asian Tigers. Major industries in South Korea today are automobiles, semiconductors, electronics, shipbuilding, and steel.
In the 1950s, South Korea was one of the poorest countries in Asia, its infrastructure and resources severely exploited during the Japanese occupation and completely destroyed by the Korean War. However, following the military coup led by General Park Chung-hee in 1962, South Korea experiences one of the fastest growing economies in the world's history for four straight decades, completely transforming from a farming and fishing based economy into one of the world's most high-tech and leading industrial powers of today.
Park Chung-hee embarked a series of ambitious five-year plans for economic development similar to the macro-economic schemes of the Soviet Union. Emphasis shifted to foreign trade with the normalization of relations with Japan in 1965, which resulted in a boom in trade and investment. Rapid expansion, first into light and then heavy industries, so in 1973 Korea became the 34th wealthiest country in the world.Park's government plans for economic development greatly boosted the Korean economy.
This growth is often called the "Miracle on the Han River", the Han River being the main river that runs through the nation's capital and largest city, Seoul. In the 1980s and 1990s, growth continued as South Korea transformed itself from an exporter of mostly textiles and shoes into a major global producer of automobiles, electronics, shipbuilding, steel and, later, high-technology products such as digital monitors, mobile phones, and semiconductors.
The South Korean model of encouraging the growth of large, internationally competitive companies through easy financing and tax incentives led to the dominance of the family-controlled conglomerates. These companies, known as chaebol, flourished under the support of the Park regime.Some such as Hyundai, Samsung, LG and SK Company became global corporations.
Since the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis the corporate landscape has changed considerably as a result of massive bankruptcies and government reforms. The crisis exposed longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's economy, including high debt-to-equity ratios, massive foreign borrowing, and an undisciplined financial sector. This led to two rounds of financial and industrial restructuring; once in 1997 and again following the collapse of Daewoo in 1999. Daewoo's collapse has been recorded as one of the largest bankruptcies in world history. By 2003, just over one-half of the 30 largest chaebol from 1995 remained.
Between 2003 and 2005, economic growth had slowed to about 4% per year. A downturn in consumer spending, attributed to massive personal credit card debt, was offset by rapid export growth, primarily to China. In 2005, the government proposed labor reform legislation and a corporate pension scheme to help make the labor market more flexible, and new real estate policies to cool property speculation.In 2006, South Korean economy has recovered its growth rate to 5.1%.
The South Korean economy is characterized by moderate inflation, low unemployment, an export surplus, and fairly equal distribution of income.
Today, there are several strong South Korean industries. South Korea's largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Company and its subsidiary Kia Motors are the fifth largest car group in the world.Korean carmakers are planning to increase their exports even more when Korea finishes its FTA with the European Union.
South Korea's shipbuilding industry is the largest in the world. It became the largest after overtaking Japan in 2004.South Korean shipbuilding is efficient enough that a new $80 million vessel is produced every four working days. In 2006, approximately one in every three new vessels was constructed in Korea. Hyundai Heavy Industries built ships totaling 10.6 million compensated gross tons (CGTs), or 34.6 percent, becoming the first nation to breach the 10 million CGT mark. Other Korean shipbuilding companies are Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Marine Engineering & Construction.
Although South Korean shipmakers are leading in terms of ship orders and production, they are wary of Chinese shipmakers. China is planning to become the world's leader in shipbuilding by 2015. However, South Korean shipbuilders have advantage over Chinese counterparts in terms of advanced value-added shipbuilding technology.
Transportation
Transportation in South Korea is provided by an extensive network of railways, highways, bus routes, ferry services, and air routes. Buses, taxis, subways, and trains provide comfortable and cheap methods of travel around South Korea. Major cities have subway systems, including the popular Seoul Subway. It has eight different systems which are separated by different colors and busan, gyoung ju, daegu,and daejun also have new subway system. Korail commuter lines are already linked with Seoul's subway system and several commuter lines connected with Busan and Daegu subway systems are under construction. They have intercity and intracity bus systems. Metropolitan Cities have express bus terminals.
Highways in South Korea are classified into highways (expressways/motorways), national highways, and various classifications below the national level. Korea Highway Corporation operates the toll highways and service amenities en route. South Korea has about 3,000 kilometers of national highways.
Korail provides frequent train service to all major South Korean cities. Two rail lines, Gyeongui and Donghae Bukbu Line, to North Korea are now being reconnected. The Korean high-speed rail system, KTX, provides high-speed service along Gyeongbu and Honam Line. KTX had been built with France and Japan's technological cooperation, but government intentionally had made it non-public.
The main international airport is Incheon International Airport. South Korea has eight international airports and seven domestic airports. South Korea's major international air carriers are Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. About 71 international passenger and cargo airlines operate frequent flight services between Korea and all over the world.
Credits : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_korea
