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
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.
- 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. Check youremailverifier for South Korea social condition facts.
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.
