South Korea - education
Education is considered an essential means of increasing social mobility,
and illiteracy covers only 2% of the adult population (1995).
The public education system in South Korea in the 1990's consisted of an
eight-year free and compulsory primary school for 6-14-year-olds; participation
here is almost 100%. This is followed by a three-year free middle school with a
three-year superstructure divided into an academic and a vocational line.
Higher demand, which is in high demand, takes place at the country's 38
universities, the majority of which were founded after World War II. The higher
education was until approximately 1900 based on Confucianism, but has since been
increasingly influenced by Christian missionaries and by the Japanese school
system.
OFFICIAL NAME: Daehan Min-kuk
CAPITAL CITY: Seoul
POPULATION: 49,800,000 (Source: COUNTRYaah)
AREA: 99,400 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): Korean
RELIGION: Buddhists 23%, Protestants 20%, Catholics 7%, no el. unknown 50%
COIN: won
CURRENCY CODE: KRW
ENGLISH NAME: Republic of Korea
INDEPENDENCE: 1948
POPULATION COMPOSITION: Koreans 100%
GDP PER residents: $ 24,200 (2007)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 74 years, women 81 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.912
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 26
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .kr
According to
DIGOPAUL, South Korea is Republic of East Asia; constitutes the southern part of the
Korean Peninsula. In just one generation, since the 1970's, South Korea has
undergone a development from a traditional agricultural society to a
modern industrial state; even the country's starting point in the 1950's was
weakened by the devastation of the Korean War, political instability, and
widespread corruption. South Korea is now one of the heavyweights among the
industrialized countries and home to global corporations such
as Samsung and Hyundai.
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AbbreviationFinder.org: Find two-letter abbreviation for each
independent country and territory, such as KR which stands for South Korea.
Regarding natural geography, art, history etc. until 1950, see also Korea.
South Korea - language
Official language is Korean, spoken by almost everyone. approximately half of the
vocabulary is Sino-Korean and borrowed from China. The font is a mixture of
Chinese characters and hangul, while North Korea has used hangul alone since
the 1950's. The North Korean efforts to "purify" the Korean language by
abolishing Chinese characters and loanwords have led to significant differences
in vocabulary between North and South.
South Korea - Constitution
The Constitution of the Republic of Korea is from 1988. The legislative power
lies with a unicameral parliament with 299 members sitting for four years; 253
of the members are elected by direct election, while 46 are elected on a
party-proportional basis. The voting age is 18 years.
The president has the executive power, is elected by universal suffrage for a
single five-year term and can neither dissolve parliament nor suspend basic
civil rights. The president appoints a prime minister who is formally the head
of government. The country has a constitutional court with nine members.
Administratively, South Korea is divided into nine provinces and seven major
cities (Seoul, Pusan, Taegu, Taejon, Gwangju, Ulsan and Inchon), all of
which have provincial status. Since 1995, the provincial governors have been
elected by universal suffrage, as have the provincial and city councils.
South Korea (Health Conditions)
Life expectancy in 1996 was 69 years for men and 76 for women. In the same
year, the infant mortality rate was 9 per 1000 live births, which was a decrease
from 51 in 1970. The birth rate in 1996 was 1.6 children
per. woman. Cardiovascular disease was the most common cause of death in 1994,
but only occurred in approximately half as often as in Denmark. Cancer is the second
most common cause of death, followed by traffic accidents that occurred in 1994
twice as often as in Denmark. Tuberculosis is three times as prevalent as in
Denmark.
1990-95 the country used approximately 1.8% of GDP in health care. In 1990, there
were 7.3 doctors per 10,000 residents against 4.5 in 1970. From 1989, a health
insurance system has covered almost the entire population. For private
employees, the insurance contributions are shared between the company and the
employee.
South Korea (Military)
The Armed Forces is (2006) 687,700, of which approximately 159,000 conscripts. The
length of service is 26 months in the army and 30 months in the other
armies. The war reserve of 4,500,000 is being reorganized. The forces are
equipped with modern equipment. The army has 3 armored infantry and 19
infantry divisions, 2 independent infantry and 11 hunter brigades of various
types. The fleet has 43 larger and 80 smaller combat vessels, 20 submarines,
1 minesweeper and 14 demining vessels, 48 landing ships and vessels, a navyof
25,000 and an air service with 16 aircraft and 45 helicopters. The Air Force has
540 fighter jets, 34 transport aircraft, 28 helicopters of various types and
more than 100 unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. The security forces are at
4,500. 3,500,000 are part of the mobilized civil defense.
Formally, no peace has been concluded after the Korean War. South Korea's
military is supplemented by 28,000 US troops stationed in South Korea and by US
air and naval forces stationed in Japan.
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