The Republic of South Korea

The e-Advocate Legal Missions International The Republic of

South Korea

South Korean President Park Geun-hye

Revelation 16:12 1 Corinthians 16:19-24

“Helping Individuals, Organizations & Communities Achieve Their Full Potential”

Vol. V, Issue XIV – Q-3 July | August | September 2019

Quarterly Review

Seoul South Korea 2015

The Advocacy Foundation, Inc. Helping Individuals, Organizations & Communities Achieve Their Full Potential

The Republic of

South Korea

“Helping Individuals, Organizations & Communities Achieve Their Full Potential 1735 Market Street, Suite 3750 | 100 Edgewood Avenue, Suite 1690 Philadelphia, PA 19102 Atlanta, GA 30303

John C Johnson III Founder & CEO (878) 222-0450 Voice | Fax | SMS www.TheAdvocacyFoundation.org

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Biblical Authority ______ Revelations 16:12 (NIV) 12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.

______ 1 Corinthians 16:19-24 (NIV) 19 The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. 20 All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 21 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.

22 If anyone does not love the Lord --a curse be on him. Come, O Lord !

23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.

성경의 권위

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Table of Contents The Republic of

South Korea Biblical Authority I.

Introduction

II.

History

III.

Geography

IV.

Demographics

V.

The South Korean Government

VI.

The South Korean Legal System

VII.

The South Korean Military

VIII. Science & Technology IX.

The South Korean Economy

X.

Education & Culture

XI.

South Korean Sports

XII.

Park Geun-hye -

Asia’s First Female Head of State

Copyright © 2015 The Advocacy Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Introduction

with

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (Hangul: 대한민국; Hanja: 大韓民國; Daehan Minguk, "The Republic of Great Han"; ROK), and commonly referred to as Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name Korea is derived from the Kingdom of Goryeo, also spelled as Koryŏ. It shares land borders with North Korea to the north, and oversea borders with Japan to the east and China to the west. Roughly half of the country's 50 million people reside in the metropolitan area surrounding its capital, the Seoul Capital Area, which is the second largest in the world over 25 million residents.

Korea was inhabited as early as the Lower Paleolithic period and its civilization began with the founding of Gojoseon. After the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea in 668, Korea enjoyed over a millennium of relative tranquility under dynasties lasting for centuries in which its trade, culture, literature, science and technology flourished. In 1910 it was annexed by the Japanese Empire, after whose surrender in 1945, Korea was divided into Soviet and U.S. zones of occupation, with the latter becoming the Republic of Korea in August 1948. Although the United Nations passed a resolution declaring the Republic to be the only lawful government of Korea, a communist regime was soon set up in the North that invaded the South in 1950, leading to the Korean War that ended de facto in 1953, with peace and prosperity settling-in thereafter.

Between 1962 and 1994, South Korea's tiger economy grew at an average of 10% annually, fueled by annual export growth of 20%, in a period called the Miracle on the Han River that rapidly and successfully transformed it into a high-income advanced economy and the world's 11th largest economy by 1995. Today, South Korea is the world's seventh largest importer and eighth largest exporter, ranking as the eighth largest country in international trade, a regional power with the world's 10th largest defence budget and member of the G20 and OECD's Development Assistance Committee. Since the first free election in 1987, South Koreans have enjoyed high civil liberties and one of the world's most developed democracies, ranked second in Asia on the Democracy Index. Its pop culture has considerable influence in Asia and expanding globally in a process called the Korean Wave.

South Korea is East Asia's highest ranked developed country in the Human Development Index. Its citizens enjoy a very high standard of living, having Asia's highest median percapita income and average wage with the world's 8th highest household income. Globally, it ranks highly in education, quality of healthcare, ease of doing business and job security. It leads OECD countries in student skills with the highest percentage of youths holding a tertiary education degree. Ranked as the most innovative country by Bloomberg, it is the world's most research and development intensive country, driven by high-tech chaebols Page 8 of 93

such as Samsung, Hyundai-Kia and LG. A world leading information society, South Korea has the world's fastest Internet connection speed, ranking first in e-Government, 4G LTE penetration and second in the ICT Development Index and smartphone usage.

Etymology The Three Kingdoms of South Korea

The name Korea derives from Goryeo, itself referring to the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo, the first Korean dynasty visited by Persian merchants who referred to Koryŏ (Goryeo; 고려) as Korea. The term Koryŏ also widely became used to refer to Goguryeo, which renamed itself Koryŏ in the 5th century. (The modern spelling, "Korea", first appeared in late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Company's Hendrick Hamel.). Despite the coexistence of the spellings Corea and Korea in 19th century publications, some Koreans believe that Japan, around the time of the Japanese occupation, intentionally standardised the spelling on Korea, making Japan appear first alphabetically. Other commentators have pointed out that Japan continued to refer to Korea as "Corea" and "Chosen," even after Japan absorbed Korea, and that Japan would have had no need to concern itself with Korea's alphabetical position in international forums, considering that Japan had absorbed Korea, and thus Korea ceased to appear as an independent entity in international forums.

After Goryeo fell in 1392, Joseon became the official name for the entire territory, though it was not universally accepted. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon (Old Joseon). In 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country Page 9 of 93

from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk (Korean Empire). The name Daehan, which means "great Han" literally, derives from Samhan (Three Hans). However, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted. There were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (대한 민국 임시 정부).

Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea (Daehan Minguk) was adopted as the legal name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, the informal term South Korea was coined, becoming increasingly common in the Western world. While South Koreans use Han (or Hanguk) to refer to the entire country, North Koreans use Joseon as the name of the country.

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History Before the Division Sunjong, the Emperor Yunghui was the last emperor of the Joseon Dynasty & Korean Empire

Korean history begins with the founding of Chosun (often known as "Gojoseon" to prevent confusion with another dynasty founded in the 13th century; the prefix Go- means 'older,' 'before,' or 'earlier') in 2333 BC by Dangun, according to Korean foundation mythology. Gojoseon expanded until it controlled northern Korean Peninsula and some parts of Manchuria. After many conflicts with the Chinese Han Dynasty, Gojoseon disintegrated, leading to the Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea period.

In the early centuries of the Common Era, Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye, and the Samhan confederacy occupied the peninsula and southern Manchuria. Of the various states, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla grew to control the peninsula as Three Kingdoms of Korea.

The unification of the Three Kingdoms by Silla in 676 led to the North South States Period, in which much of the Korean Peninsula was controlled by Unified Silla, while Balhae succeeded to have the control of northern parts of Goguryeo.

In Unified Silla, poetry and art was encouraged, and Buddhist culture thrived. Relationships between Korea and China remained relatively peaceful during this time. However, Unified Silla weakened under internal strife, and surrendered to Goryeo in 935. Balhae, Silla's neighbor to the north, was formed as a successor state to Goguryeo. During its height, Balhae controlled most of Manchuria and parts of Russian Far East. It fell to the Khitan in 926.

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The peninsula was united by King Taejo of Goryeo in 936. Like Silla, Goryeo was a highly cultural state and created the Jikji in 1377, using the world's oldest movable metal type printing press. The Mongol invasions in the 13th century greatly weakened Goryeo. After nearly 30 years of war, Goryeo continued to rule Korea, though as a tributary ally to the Mongols. After the Mongolian Empire collapsed, severe political strife followed and the Goryeo Dynasty was replaced by the Joseon Dynasty in 1392, following a rebellion by General Yi Seong-gye.

King Taejo declared the new name of Korea as "Joseon" in reference to Gojoseon, and moved the capital to Hanseong (old name of Seoul). The first 200 years of the Joseon Dynasty were marked by relative peace and saw the creation of Hangul by King Sejong the Great in the 15th century and the rise in influence of Confucianism in the country.

Between 1592 and 1598, Japan invaded Korea. Toyotomi Hideyoshi led the Japanese forces, but his advance was halted by Korean forces with assistance from Righteous army militias and Ming Dynasty China troops. Through a series of successful battles of attrition, the Japanese forces were eventually forced to withdraw, and subsequently signed a peace agreement with diplomats of Ming China. This war also saw the rise of Admiral Yi Sun-sin and his renowned "turtle ship". In the 1620s and 1630s, Joseon suffered from invasions by the Manchu which eventually extended to China as well.

After another series of wars against Manchuria, Joseon experienced a nearly 200-year period of peace. King Yeongjo and King Jeongjo particularly led a new renaissance of the Joseon Dynasty.

However, the latter years of the Joseon Dynasty were marked by a dependence on China for external affairs and isolation from the outside world. During the 19th century, Korea's isolationist policy earned it the name the "Hermit Kingdom". The Joseon Dynasty tried to protect itself against Western imperialism, but was eventually forced to open trade. After the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Korea was occupied by Japan (1910–45). At the end of World War II, the Japanese surrendered to Soviet and U.S. forces who occupied the northern and southern halves of Korea, respectively.

After the Division Despite the initial plan of a unified Korea in the 1943 Cairo Declaration, escalating Cold War antagonism between the Soviet Union and the United States eventually led to the establishment of separate governments, each with its own ideology, leading to Korea's division into two political entities in 1948: North Korea and South Korea.

In the South Syngman Rhee, an opponent of communism, who had been backed and appointed by the United States as head of the provisional government, won the first presidential elections of the newly declared Republic of Korea in May. In the North, a former anti-Japanese guerrilla and communist activist, Kim Il-sung was appointed premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in September. In October the Soviet Union Page 13 of 93

declared Kim Il-sung's government as sovereign over both parts. The UN declared Rhee's government as "a lawful government having effective control and jurisdiction over that part of Korea where the UN Temporary Commission on Korea was able to observe and consult" and the Government "based on elections which was observed by the Temporary Commission" in addition to a statement that "this is the only such government in Korea."

Both leaders began an authoritarian repression of their political opponents inside their region, seeking for a unification of Korea under their control. While South Korea's request for military support was denied by the United States, North Korea's military was heavily reinforced by the Soviet Union.

Honoring President Park Chung-hee at an Army Parade on Armed Forces Day, October 1, 1973.

Park ruled for 17 years until his assassination in 1979.

On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, sparking the Korean War, the Cold War's first major conflict that continued until 1953. At the time, the Soviet Union had boycotted the United Nations (UN), thus forfeiting their veto rights. This allowed the UN to intervene in a civil war when it became apparent that the superior North Korean forces would unify the entire country. The Soviet Union and China backed North Korea, with the later participation of millions of Chinese troops. After an ebb and flow that saw both sides almost pushed to the brink of extinction, and massive losses among Korean civilians in both the north and the south, the war eventually reached a stalemate. The 1953 armistice, never signed by South Korea, split the peninsula along the demilitarized zone near the original Page 14 of 93

demarcation line. No peace treaty was ever signed, resulting in the two countries remaining technically at war. Over 1.2 million people died during the Korean war.

In 1960, a student uprising (the "April 19 Revolution") led to the resignation of the autocratic, corrupt President Syngman Rhee. A period of political instability followed, broken by General Park Chung-hee's May 16 coup against the weak and ineffectual government the next year. Park took over as president until his assassination in 1979, overseeing rapid export-led economic growth as well as implementing political repression.

Park was heavily criticised as a ruthless military dictator, who in 1972 extended his rule by creating a new constitution, which gave the president sweeping (almost dictatorial) powers and permitted him to run for an unlimited number of six-year terms. However the Korean economy developed significantly during Park's tenure and the government developed the nation-wide expressway system, the Seoul subway system, and laid the foundation for economic development during his 17 year tenure.

The years after Park's assassination were marked again by political turmoil, as the previously suppressed opposition leaders all campaigned to run for president in the sudden political void. In 1979 there came the Coup d'état of December Twelfth led by General Chun Doo-hwan. Following the Coup d'état, Chun Doo-hwan planned to rise to power through several measures. On May 17, Chun Doo-hwan forced the Cabinet to expand martial law to the whole nation, which had previously not applied to the island of Jeju-do.

The expanded martial law closed universities, banned political activities and further curtailed the press. Chun's assumption of the presidency in the events of May 17, triggered nationwide protests demanding democracy, in particular in the city of Gwangju, to which Chun sent special forces to violently suppress the Gwangju Democratization Movement.

Chun subsequently created the National Defense Emergency Policy Committee and took the presidency according to his political plan. Chun and his government held South Korea under a despotic rule until 1987, when a Seoul National University student, Park Jong-chul, was tortured to death. On June 10, the Catholic Priests Association for Justice revealed the incident, igniting the June Democracy Movement around the country. Eventually, Chun's party, the Democratic Justice Party, and its leader, Roh Tae-woo announced the 6.29 Declaration, which included the direct election of the president. Roh went on to win the election by a narrow margin against the two main opposition leaders, Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Young-Sam. In 1988, Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics. It became a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1996. It was adversely affected by the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. However, the country recovered and continue its economic growth, albeit at a slower pace.

In June 2000, as part of president Kim Dae-jung's "Sunshine Policy" of engagement, a North–South summit took place in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Later that year, Kim received the Nobel Peace Prize "for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular." However, because of discontent among the population for fruitless approaches Page 15 of 93

to the North under the previous administrations and, amid North Korean provocations, a conservative government was elected in 2007 led by President Lee Myung-bak, former mayor of Seoul. More recently, Park Geun-hye won the South Korean presidential election, 2012.

In 2002, South Korea and Japan jointly co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup. However, South Korean and Japanese relations later soured because of conflicting claims of sovereignty over the Liancourt Rocks ("Dokdo" in Korea), in what became known as the Liancourt Rocks dispute.

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Geography South Korea occupies the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula, which extends some 1,100 km (680 mi) from the Asian mainland.

This mountainous peninsula is flanked by the Yellow Sea to the west, and Sea of Japan (East Sea) to the east.

Its southern tip lies on the Korea Strait and the East China Sea.

kilometres (38,622.57 sq mi).

The country, including all its islands, lies between latitudes 33째 and 39째N, and longitudes 124째 and 130째E. Its total area is 100,032 square

South Korea can be divided into four general regions: an eastern region of high mountain ranges and narrow coastal plains; a western region of broad coastal plains, river basins, and rolling hills; a southwestern region of mountains and valleys; and a southeastern region dominated by the broad basin of the Nakdong River.

South Korea's terrain is mostly mountainous, most of which is not arable. Lowlands, located primarily in the west and southeast, make up only 30% of the total land area.

About three thousand islands, mostly small and uninhabited, lie off the western and southern coasts of South Korea. Jeju-do is about 100 kilometres (about 60 mi) off the Page 18 of 93

southern coast of South Korea. It is the country's largest island, with an area of 1,845 square kilometres (712 sq mi). Jeju is also the site of South Korea's highest point: Hallasan, an extinct volcano, reaches 1,950 meters (6,398 ft) above sea level. The easternmost islands of South Korea include Ulleungdo and Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo), while Marado and Socotra Rock are the southernmost islands of South Korea.

South Korea has 20 national parks and popular nature places like the Boseong Tea Fields, Suncheon Bay Ecological Park, and the first national park of Jirisan.

Climate Seoul

J 22

F M A

Climate Chart M J J A

24

102

46

77

2 4 10 18 −6 −4 1 7

23 13

133

328

27 18

29 22

348

S 138

30 22

O N D 49

53

25

26 20 12 4 17 10 3 −3

Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Imperial conversion

South Korea tends to have a humid continental climate and a humid subtropical climate, and is affected by the East Asian monsoon, with precipitation heavier in summer during a short rainy season called jangma (장마), which begins end of June through the end of July.

Winters can be extremely cold with the minimum temperature dropping below −20 °C (−4 °F) in the inland region of the country: in Seoul, the average January temperature range is −7 to 1 °C (19 to 34 °F), and the average August temperature range is 22 to 30 °C (72 to 86 °F). Winter temperatures are higher along the southern coast and considerably lower in the mountainous interior. Summer can be uncomfortably hot and humid, with temperatures exceeding 30 °C (86 °F) in most parts of the country. South Korea has four distinct seasons; spring, summer, autumn and winter. Spring usually lasts from late-March to early- May, summer from mid-May to early-September, autumn from mid-September to early-November, and winter from mid-November to mid-March.

Rainfall is concentrated in the summer months of June through September. The southern coast is subject to late summer typhoons that bring strong winds and heavy rains. The average annual precipitation varies from 1,370 millimetres (54 in) in Seoul to 1,470 millimetres (58 in) in Busan. There are occasional typhoons that bring high winds and floods.

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The Environment During the first 20 years of South Korea's growth surge, little effort was made to preserve the environment. Unchecked industrialization and urban development have resulted in deforestation and the ongoing destruction of wetlands such as the Songdo Tidal Flat.

However, there have been recent efforts to balance these problems, including a government run $84 billion five-year green growth project that aims to boost energy efficiency and green technology.

The green-based economic strategy is a comprehensive overhaul of South Korea's economy, utilizing nearly two percent of the national GDP. The greening initiative includes such efforts as a nationwide bike network, solar and wind energy, lowering oil dependent vehicles, backing daylight savings and extensive usage of environmentally friendly technologies such as LEDs in electronics and lighting. The country – already the world's most wired – plans to build a nationwide next-generation network which will be 10 times faster than broadband facilities in order to reduce energy usage.

The renewable portfolio standard program with renewable energy certificates runs from 2012 to 2022. Quota systems favor large, vertically integrated generators and multinational electric utilities, if only because certificates are generally denominated in units of one megawatt-hour. They are also more difficult to design and implement than an a Feed-in tariff. Around 350 residential micro combined heat and power units were installed in 2012.

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Seoul's tap water recently became safe to drink, with city officials branding it "Arisu" in a bid to convince the public. Efforts have also been made with afforestation projects. Another multi-billion dollar project was the restoration of Cheonggyecheon, a stream running through downtown Seoul that had earlier been paved over by a motorway. One major challenge is air quality, with acid rain, sulfur oxides, and annual yellow dust storms being particular problems. It is acknowledged that many of these difficulties are a result of South Korea's proximity to China, which is a major air polluter.

South Korea is a member of the Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity Treaty, Kyoto Protocol (forming the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG), regarding UNFCCC, with Mexico and Switzerland), Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (not into force), Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, and Whaling.

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Demographics South Korea is noted for its population density, which is 487 per square kilometer, more than 10 times the global average. Most South Koreans live in urban areas, because of rapid migration from the countryside during the country's quick economic expansion in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The capital city of Seoul is also the country's largest city and chief industrial center. According to the 2005 census, Seoul had a population of 9.8 million inhabitants. The Seoul National Capital Area has 24.5 million inhabitants (about half of South Korea's entire population) making it the world's second largest metropolitan area and easily the most densely populated city in the OECD. Other major cities include Busan (3.5 million), Incheon (2.5 million), Daegu (2.5 million), Daejeon (1.4 million), Gwangju (1.4 million) and Ulsan (1.1 million).

The population has also been shaped by international migration. After World War II and the division of the Korean Peninsula, about four million people from North Korea crossed the border to South Korea. This trend of net entry reversed over the next 40 years because of emigration, especially to the United States and Canada. South Korea's total population in 1955 was 21.5 million, and today it is roughly 50,062,000.

South Korea is one of the most ethnically homogeneous societies in the world, with more than 99% of inhabitants having Korean ethnicity. Koreans call their society 단일민족국가, Dan-il minjok guk ga, "the single race society".

The percentage of foreign nationals has been growing rapidly. As of 2009, South Korea had 1,106,884 foreign residents, 2.7% of the population; however, more than half of them are ethnic Koreans with a foreign citizenship. For example, migrants from China (PRC) make up 56.5% of foreign nationals, but approximately 30% of the Chinese citizens in Korea are Joseonjok (조선족 in Korean), PRC citizens of Korean ethnicity. Regardless of the ethnicity, there are 28,500 US military personnel serving in South Korea, most serving a one-year unaccompanied tour (though approximately 10% serve longer tours accompanied by family), according to the Korea National Statistical Office. In addition, about 43,000 English teachers from English-speaking countries reside temporarily in Korea. Currently, South Korea has one of the highest rate of growth of foreign born population, with about 30,000 foreign born residences obtaining South Korean citizenship every year since 2010.

South Korea's birthrate was the world's lowest in 2009. If this continues, its population is expected to decrease by 13% to 42.3 million in 2050. South Korea's annual birthrate is approximately 9 births per 1000 people. However, the birthrate has increased by 5.7% in 2010 and Korea no longer has the world's lowest birthrate. According to a 2011 report from Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's total fertility rate (1.23 children born per woman) is higher than those of Taiwan (1.15) and Japan (1.21). The average life expectancy in 2008 was 79.10 years, which is 34th in the world.

South Korea has the steepest decline in working age population of the OECD nations.

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Largest cities or towns in South Korea 2013 Population by Citizenship Registration

Seoul

Busan

Ran k

Name

Province

1

Seoul

Seoul

10,143,16 11 Seongnam Gyeonggi 4

2

Busan

Busan

3,526,648 12

Yongin

Gyeonggi

3

Incheon

Incheon

2,882,047 13

Bucheon

Gyeonggi

863,34 4

4

Daegu

Daegu

2,501,823 14

Ansan

Gyeonggi

713,57 1

5

Daejeon

Daejeon

1,533,497 15

6

Gwangju

Gwangju 1,473,529 16

7

Ulsan

8

Suwon

9 10

Ulsan

Ran k

Pop.

1,157,199 17

Gyeonggi 1,151,619 18

South Changwo Gyeongsan 1,082,896 19 n g Goyang

Gyeonggi

993,411

 

Jeonju

North Jeolla

650,67 6

Namyangj u

Gyeonggi

619,72 4

Anyang

Gyeonggi

607,35 4

South 591,79 Cheonan Chungcheon 9 g Gyeonggi

Incheon

Daegu

530,56 7

Korean Hangul Korean South Korean Korean Unitary presidential constitutional republic

Government

-

980,00 4 942,42 5

Seoul

Demonym

President

Park Geun-hye

Prime Minister Legislature

Pop.

37°33′N 126°58′E

Official languages Official scripts Ethnic groups

-

Province

North 673,33 Cheongju Chungcheon 0 g

20 Hwaseong

Capital and largest city

-

Name

Lee Wan-koo National Assembly Formation

Established

- Current constitution

August 15, 1948 October 29, 1987

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Area

-

Total

100,210 km2 (109th) 38,691 sq mi

Water (%)

0.3 (301 km2 / 116 mi2) Population

-

2014 estimate

51,302,044 (26th)

GDP (PPP)

-

2014 estimate

Total

$1.790 trillion (13th)

Per capita

$35,485 (29th)

GDP (nominal)

-

2014 estimate

Total

$1.449 trillion (13th)

Per capita

$28,738 (29th) 31.1 medium 0.891 very high · 15th

Gini (2011) HDI (2013)

South Korean won (₩) (KRW) Korea Standard Time (UTC+9)

Currency Time zone

 

Date format

yyyy년 mm월 dd일 yyyy/mm/dd (CE)

Drives on the Calling code ISO 3166 code

right +82 KR  

Internet TLD

.kr .한국

South Korea Hangul

대한민국

Hanja

大韓民國

Revised Romanization McCune–Reischauer

Daehan Min-guk Taehan Min’guk

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Religion As of 2005, just under half of the South Korean population expressed no religious preference. Of the rest, most are Buddhist or Christian. According to the 2007 census, 29.2% of the population at that time was Christian (18.3% identified themselves as Protestants, 10.9% as Roman Catholics), and 22.8% were Buddhist. Other religions include Islam and various new religious movements such as Jeungsanism, Cheondoism and Wonbuddhism. The earliest religion practiced was Korean shamanism. Today, freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution, and there is no state religion. Ironically, there are 628 Jehovah's Witnesses currently imprisoned in South Korea with the average of 40 newly imprisoned every month. The UN Human Rights Committee has condemned the government of South Korea for the arbitrary detention of conscientious objectors and for violating the right of Witnesses to freedom of conscience.

Christianity is South Korea's largest religion, accounting for more than half of all South Korean religious adherents. There are approximately 13.7 million Christians in South Korea today, about 63% of Christians belong to Protestant churches, while about 37% belong to the Roman Catholic Church. The number of Protestant Christians has slightly decreased since the 1990s, while the number of Roman Catholics has rapidly increased since the 1980s. Presbyterian denominations are the biggest Christian denominations in South Korea. About nine million people belong to one of the 100 different Presbyterian churches; among the biggest denominations are the HapDong Presbyterian Church, TongHap Presbyterian Church, the Koshin Presbyterian Church. For more information see Presbyterianism in South Korea. South Korea is also the second-largest missionary-sending nation, after the United States.

Buddhism was introduced to Korea in the year 372. According to the national census as of 2005, South Korea has over 10.7 million Buddhists. Today, about 90% of Korean Buddhists belong to Jogye Order. Most of the National Treasures of South Korea are Buddhist artifacts.

Buddhism became the state religion in some of Korean kingdoms since the Three Kingdoms Period, when Goguryeo adopted it as the state religion in 372, followed by Baekche (528).

Buddhism had been the state religion of Unified Korea from North South States Period (not to be confused with the modern division of Korea) to Goryeo before suppression under the Joseon dynasty in favor of Neo-Confucianism.

Fewer than 30,000 South Koreans are thought to be Muslims, but the country has some 100,000 resident foreign workers from Islamic countries, Bangladesh and Pakistan.[93] Korean shamanism, today known as Muism (religion of the mu [shamans]) or Sinism (religion of the gods) encompasses a variety of indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the Korean people and the Korean sphere. In contemporary South Korea, the most used term is Muism and a shaman is known as a mudang (무당, 巫堂) or Tangol (당골). Since the early 2000s, this religion has regained popularity among Koreans.

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Public Health and Safety Although life expectancy has increased significantly since 1950, South Korea faces a number of important health-care issues. Foremost is the impact of environmental pollution on an increasingly urbanized population. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, chronic diseases account for the majority of diseases in South Korea, a condition exacerbated by the health care system's focus on treatment rather than prevention. The incidence of chronic disease in South Korea hovers around 24 percent. Approximately 33 percent of all adults smoke. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) rate of prevalence at the end of 2003 was less than 0.1 percent. In 2001 central government expenditures on health care accounted for about 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The suicide rate in the nation was 26 per 100,000 in 2008, the highest in the industrialized world.

Young South Korean males were found to be the tallest in all of East Asia, resulting from healthy living conditions, economic development and changes in food culture.

Based on the Asia-Pacific Advisory Committee on Influenza (APACI), South Korea ranked the highest of influenza vaccination in Asia with 311 vaccines per 1,000 people.

Professor Zang-Hee Cho from South Korea uses high-tech imaging technology to study diseases affecting the country.

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The South Korean Government Under its current constitution the state is sometimes referred to as the Sixth Republic of South Korea. Like many democratic states, South Korea has a government divided into three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. The executive and legislative branches operate primarily at the national level, although various ministries in the executive branch also carry out local functions. Local governments are semi-autonomous, and contain executive and legislative bodies of their own. The judicial branch operates at both the national and local levels. South Korea is a constitutional democracy.

The National Assembly of South Korea

he South Korean government's structure is determined by the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. This document has been revised several times since its first promulgation in 1948 at independence. However, it has retained many broad characteristics and with the exception of the short-lived Second Republic of South Korea, the country has always had a presidential system with an independent chief executive. The first direct election was also held in 1948. Although South Korea experienced a series of military dictatorships from the 1960s up until the 1980s, it has since developed into a successful liberal democracy. Today,

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the CIA World Factbook describes South Korea's democracy as a "fully functioning modern democracy".

Administrative Divisions The major administrative divisions in South Korea are provinces, metropolitan cities (self-governing cities that are not part of any province), one special city and one special autonomous city.

Map

Pop.c Namea Hangul Hanja Special city (Teukbyeolsi)a 서울특별 서울特別 10,143, Seoul 645 시 市b Metropolitan cities (Gwangyeoksi)a 부산광역시

釜山廣域市

3,527,6 35

Daegu 대구광역시

大邱廣域市

2,501,5 88

Incheon 인천광역시

仁川廣域市

2,879,7 82

Gwangju 광주광역시

光州廣域市

1,472,9 10

Daejeon 대전광역시

大田廣域市

1,532,8 11

울산광역시

蔚山廣域市

1,156,4 80

Busan

Ulsan

Special self-governing city (Teukbyeol-jachisi)a Sejong

세종특별 자치시

世宗特別 自治市

122,153

Provinces (Do)a

Gangwon Seoul Incheon Gyeonggi South Chungcheong North Chungcheong Sejong Daejeon North Gyeongsang

Gyeonggi

경기도

京畿道

12,234, 630

Gangwon

강원도

江原道

1,542,2 63

충청북도

忠淸北道

1,572,7 32

충청남도

忠淸南道

2,047,6 31

전라북도

全羅北道

1,872,9 65

전라남도

全羅南道

1,907,1 72

경상북도

慶尙北道

2,699,4 40

경상남도

慶尙南道

3,333,8 20

North Chungch eong South Chungch eong North Jeolla South Jeolla North Gyeongs ang South Gyeongs

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ang

North Jeolla Daegu Ulsan Busan South Gyeongsang Gwangju South Jeolla Jeju North Korea Japan Yellow Sea (West Sea) Korea Strait (Western Channel) Korea Strait (Tsushima Strait) Sea of Japan (East Sea) a

Special self-governing province (Teukbyeoljachi-do)a

Jeju

제주특별 자치도

濟州特別 自治道

593,8 06

Revised Romanisation; b See Names of Seoul; c As of 2013 year-end.

Foreign Relations South Korea maintains diplomatic relations with more than 188 countries. The country has also been a member of the United Nations since 1991, when it became a member state at the same time as North Korea. On January 1, 2007, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Kimoon assumed the post of UN Secretary-General. It has also developed links with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as both a member of ASEAN Plus three, a body of observers, and the East Asia Summit (EAS).

In 2010, South Korea and the European Union concluded a free trade agreement (FTA) to reduce trade barriers. South Korea is also negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with Canada, and another with New Zealand. In November 2009 South Korea joined the OECD Development Assistance Committee, marking the first time a former aid recipient country joined the group as a donor member. South Korea hosted the G-20 Summit in Seoul in November 2010.

China Historically, Korea has had close relations with China. Before the formation of South Korea, Korean independence fighters worked with Chinese soldiers during the Japanese occupation. However, after World War II, the People's Republic of China embraced Maoism while South Korea sought close relations with the United States. The PRC assisted North Korea with manpower and supplies during the Korean War, and in its aftermath the diplomatic relationship between South Korea and the PRC almost completely ceased.

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Relations thawed gradually and South Korea and the PRC re-established formal diplomatic relations on August 24, 1992. The two countries sought to improve bilateral relations and lifted the forty-year old trade embargo, and South Korean–Chinese relations have improved steadily since 1992. The Republic of Korea broke off official relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) upon gaining official relations with the People's Republic of China, which doesn't recognise Taiwan's sovereignty.

European Union The European Union (EU) and South Korea are important trading partners, having negotiated a free trade agreement for many years since South Korea was designated as a priority FTA partner in 2006. The free trade agreement was approved in September 2010, and took effect on July 1, 2011. South Korea is the EU's eighth largest trade partner, and the EU has become South Korea's second largest export destination. EU trade with South Korea exceeded â‚Ź65 billion in 2008 and has enjoyed an annual average growth rate of 7.5% between 2004 and 2008.

The EU has been the single largest foreign investor in South Korea since 1962, and accounted for almost 45% of all FDI inflows into Korea in 2006. Nevertheless, EU companies have significant problems accessing and operating in the South Korean market because of stringent standards and testing requirements for products and services often creating barriers to trade. Both in its regular bilateral contacts with South Korea and through its FTA with Korea, the EU is seeking to improve this situation.

Japan Although there were no formal diplomatic ties between South Korea and Japan after the end of World War II, South Korea and Japan signed the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea in 1965 to establish diplomatic ties. There is heavy antiJapanese sentiment in South Korea because of a number of unsettled Japanese-Korean disputes, many of which stem from the period of Japanese occupation after the Japanese annexation of Korea. During World War II, more than 100,000 Koreans served in the Imperial Japanese Army.[109][110] Korean women were forced to the war front to serve the Imperial Japanese Army as sexual slaves, called comfort women.

Longstanding issues such as Japanese war crimes against Korean civilians, visits by Japanese politicians to the Yasukuni Shrine honoring Japanese soldiers killed at war (including some class A war criminals), the negationist re-writing of Japanese textbooks relating Japanese atrocities during World War II, and the territorial disputes over Liancourt Rocks, known in South Korea as "Dokdo", continue to trouble Korean-Japanese relations.

Although Dokdo is claimed by both South Korea and Japan, the islets are administered by South Korea, which had its coast guard stationed there.

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In response to then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, former President Roh Moo-hyun suspended all summit talks between South Korea and Japan in 2009.

North Korea Both North and South Korea continue to officially claim sovereignty over the entire peninsula and any outlying islands. Despite the animosity, reconciliation efforts have been present from the very beginning of the separation between North and South Korea.

Political figures such as Kim Koo worked to reconcile the two governments even after the Korean War. With longstanding animosity following the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, North Korea and South Korea signed an agreement to pursue peace. On October 4, 2007, Roh Moo-Hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il signed an eight-point agreement on issues of permanent peace, high-level talks, economic cooperation, renewal of train services, highway and air travel, and a joint Olympic cheering squad.

Despite the Sunshine Policy and efforts at reconciliation, the progress was complicated by North Korean missile tests in 1993, 1998, 2006 and 2009 and 2013. As of early 2009, relationships between North and South Korea were very tense; North Korea had been reported to have deployed missiles, ended its former agreements with South Korea, and threatened South Korea and the United States not to interfere with a satellite launch it had planned. North and South Korea are still technically at war (having never signed a peace treaty after the Korean War) and share the world's most heavily fortified border. On May 27, 2009, North Korean media declared that the Armistice is no longer valid because of the South Korean government's pledge to "definitely join" the Proliferation Security Initiative.

To further complicate and intensify strains between the two nations, the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in March 2010, is affirmed by the South Korean government to have been caused by a North Korean torpedo, which the North denies.

President Lee Myung-bak declared in May 2010 that Seoul would cut all trade with North Korea as part of measures primarily aimed at striking back at North Korea diplomatically and financially, except for the joint Kaesong Industrial Project, and humanitarian aid. North Korea initially threatened to sever all ties, to completely abrogate the previous pact of nonaggression, and to expel all South Koreans from a joint industrial zone in Kaesong, but backtracked on its threats and decided to continue its ties with South Korea. Despite the continuing ties, Kaesong industrial zone has seen a large decrease in investment and manpower as a result of this military conflict.

The United States The United States engaged in the decolonization of Korea (mainly in the South, with the Soviet Union engaged in North Korea) from Japan after World War II. After three years of military administration by the United States, the South Korean government was established. Upon the onset of the Korean War, U.S. forces were sent to defend against an invasion from North Korea of the South. Following the Armistice, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to a "Mutual Defense Treaty", under which an attack on either party in the Pacific Page 33 of 93

area would summon a response from both. In 1967, South Korea obliged the mutual defense treaty, by sending a large combat troop contingent to support the United States in the Vietnam War. The U.S. Eighth Army, Seventh Air Force, and U.S. Naval Forces Korea are stationed in South Korea. The two nations have strong economic, diplomatic, and military ties, although they have at times disagreed with regard to policies towards North Korea, and with regard to some of South Korea's industrial activities that involve usage of rocket or nuclear technology. There had also been strong anti-American sentiment during certain periods, which has largely moderated in the modern day. In 2007, a free trade agreement known as the Republic of Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) was

signed between South Korea and the United States, but its formal implementation was repeatedly delayed, pending approval by the legislative bodies of the two countries. On October 12, 2011, the U.S. Congress passed the long-stalled trade agreement with South Korea. It went into effect on March 15, 2012.

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The South Korean Legal System

Because Japan occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945, the Korean legal system resembles the Japanese system. After the occupation however, there were attempts to adopt many aspects of the American legal system. It must be remembered that the first civilian government commenced only in 1993, and thereafter, increasingly more democratic reforms have taken place.

Constitution: Adopted on July 17, 1948 after emancipation from Japan. Korea has three (3) governmental branches: legislative, executive and judicial.

Legal system: Based on Civil (codified) Law, while court precedents are not granted official status as law. However, in practice the decisions of the Supreme Court of Korea have strong precedent value. International treaties in which Korea is a party have essentially the same impact as Korean domestic statutes. There are statutes or Acts, which are legislations enacted by the National Assembly. When a law is passed by the National Assembly and sent to the Executive Branch, the government promulgates it, upon approval of the President, by printing the text in the Official Gazette of the Government. A serial number is assigned to each Act in the order of printing it in the Gazette. For example, the Civil Code, Law No. 471 of May 22, 1958, as last amended by Law No. 4199 of Jan. 13, 1990. Below statutes, there Page 36 of 93

are "Presidential Enforcement Decrees", which are subordinate legislations made by the Cabinet or the State Council composed of the ministers to implement an Act. Below those are "Regulations" or "Rules", which are regulations written by each Ministry to implement practical details, such as how to fill out certain forms, in accordance with a law and a presidential decree thereunder. For example, for "The Foreign Investment Promotion Act", there is "The Enforcement Decree of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act" and then "The Enforcement Regulation of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act".

Six Basic Codes and Other Laws The Six basic codes in Korea are: the Constitution, the Civil Code, the Commercial Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. Other forms of written law are: 1) the statutes passed by the National Assembly; 2) the Presidential (or Enforcement) Decrees; and 3) Ministerial Ordinances which supplement general statutes with details concerning implementation; 4) the directives, notices, and rules promulgated by the Government Ministries or Offices which are technically not law, but in fact regulate activities of the public servants to whom they are issued; 5) the rules made by the National Assembly and governing their respective operations, pursuant to Article 64(1) of the Constitution; 6) the rules made by the Supreme Court in its administration of the entire Korean court system pursuant to Article 108 of the Constitution; and 7) the treaties, under Article 6(1) of the Constititution.

1) Constitution First promulgated on July 17, 1948 and frequently amended thereafter, indicating the past, turbulent political history of Korea.

2) The Civil Code The Civil Code is divided into five books covering the following topics of law: the general part, real property rights, obligations, family law and succession.

3) The Commercial Code Was promulgated to meet the needs of new, socio-economic constraints, particularly in the field of economic regulations. Contains laws regarding corporations and partnerships.

4) The Code of Civil Procedure Divided into seven books 5) The Criminal Code Enacted in 1953 and divided into two Books. Book One sets out rules of general nature, which apply to all crimes. Book Two deals with individual crimes.

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6) The Code of Criminal Procedure Promulgated on September 23, 1954 and is divided into five Books.

South Korean Courts

Court System: Supreme Court, high courts, district courts, family courts, patent courts and administrative courts.

Supreme Court: consists of a Chief Justice and 13 Associate Justices who are appointed by the President for 6-year terms. Only the Chief Justice cannot be re-appointed. Appeals from decision by second level of district courts or appeals from decision of High Courts are heard by the Supreme Court.

Appeals from decisions by single judge of district courts fall under jurisdiction of collegial department of district court paneled by three judges. Appeals from decisions by first level of collegial department of district courts are heard by three judges of the High Courts. High Page 38 of 93

Courts function as court of first appellate court as well as those cases designated by law.

District courts hear both criminal and civil cases, and there is no right to jury in any Korean court. District courts are primarily courts of general original jurisdiction.

The highest court is the Supreme Court, and immediately under the Supreme Court are the High Courts, which act as intermediate appellate courts. Below the High Courts are the District Courts which are the courts of general original jurisdiction.

Judicial System Overview The judicial system of the Republic of Korea is composed of the Supreme Court of South Korea, the Constitutional Court of South Korea, six High Courts, 13 District Courts, and several courts of specialized jurisdiction, such as the Family Court and Administrative Court. In addition, branches of District Courts may be established, as well as Municipal Courts. South Korean courts are organized and empowered in chapters V and VI of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea.

There is no system of juries in the judicial system of South Korea, although since February 2, 2008 a limited provision for advisory juries has been introduced for criminal cases and environmental cases, and all questions of law and fact are decided by judges.

Municipal Courts The Municipal Courts only exercise original jurisdiction over minor cases, such as small claims cases where the amount in controversy does not exceed 20 million won or misdemeanor trials in which the maximum possible sentence is 30 days in jail or a fine not exceeding 200,000 won. There are currently 103 municipal courts in South Korea.

District Courts The 18 District Courts have original jurisdiction over most civil and criminal cases.

Additionally, the District Court appellate panel may exercise appellate jurisdiction over cases in which a single District Court or Branch Court judge has rendered the decision. In most cases, a single judge hears the case and renders a verdict, although in particularly important or serious cases, a trial panel of three judges may hear the case and render a decision. An appellate panel is also composed of three District Court judges.

Branch Courts Branch Courts are organized under and considered a part of the District Courts. The Branch Courts function much as the District Courts do, but lack any appellate function. There are currently 40 Branch Courts in South Korea.

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High Courts The six High Courts have appellate jurisdiction over cases decided by a trial panel of three judges in a District Court or Family Court, decisions of the Administrative Court, and civil cases heard before the District Court in which one judge decided and where the amount in controversy exceeds 50,000,000 won. Appeals to the High Court are heard by a panel of three High Court judges. High Courts are located in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejon, and Gwangju. Additionally, a special panel of the Gwangju High Court has been established in the Jeju District Court.

Judges The qualification of the judges is delegated by the Korean Constitution to the Court Organization Act. In the Court Organization Act Article 42 states that those who passed the National Judicial Examination and have completed the two-year training program at the Judicial Research and Training Institute (JRTI), or those who obtained qualifications as lawyers are eligible for becoming a judge. Though a small number of the judges are selected from practicing attorneys, an overwhelming number of them became judges right after graduation from the JRTI. The judicial reform in 2009 which established U.S. style law schools in lieu of the JRTI also requires the new judges to have a few years of law practice.

Judges in South Korea are nominated for their position by the Chief Justice of the Republic of Korea and subsequently confirmed by the Supreme Court Justices Council (a council composed of Justices of the Supreme Court). Judges serve terms of 10 years, and may be reappointed to their positions. The nomination process and terms of service above do not apply to Justices of the Supreme Court or to Justices of the Constitutional Court, each of which has its own nomination process and term of service. See Supreme Court of South Korea and Constitutional Court of South Korea for the regulations for each.

The Constitution states that judges may not be removed from their offices except through impeachment, conviction of a crime and sentencing to imprisonment, or if they should become unable to discharge their duties due to serious mental or physical impairment. The Court Organization Act sets the retirement age of judges as 63; for Supreme Court justices, who are technically not "judges", he retirement age is 65.

Prosecutors The Korean legal system belongs to the Continental Inquisitorial system which is markedly different from the English adversarial system. It was modeled after European continental system such as German and French judicial structure. Like Chinese procurator and European and Japanese prosecutor, Korean prosecutors directly or indirectly conduct criminal investigations. They involve themselves in judicial procedure by conducting investigations, determination indictable cases,and prosecution process.

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Korean prosecutors contributed to successful prosecution of many highly-ranked officials and renowned conglomerate business leaders, including former two presidents(1995) and sons of incumbent presidents (1997 and 2002 respectively). Especially in 1997, South Korean prosecutions service contributed to imprisonment of the son of incumbent president, Kim Hyeon Chul, which happened for the very first time in the world judicial history. As the result of successful, even relentlessly fair probings and prosecutions on corporate crimes, they often face criticism from corrupt politicians and business leaders, whether prosecutor's application on laws may be too severe and harsh.

Two scandal cases right before the presidential election in 2012 gave huge blows to the fame of Korean prosecutors and this brought in the abolition of "Grand central investigation team"in prosecution service, which was replaced by "anti-corruption team" in Seoul central district of Prosecution service(in 2013). This was a downsized format of the Grand central investigation team in overall structure, i.e. personnel and scale. Also the Korean government introduced specially-appointed prosecutor's organization(in 2014), when it comes to handling huge corporate-beauraucrat scandals requiring supreme level of transparency and objectivity . Specially-appointed prosecutors will be chosen by votes of national assembly members.

However, it has been really controversial whether the abolition of grand central investigation team was inevitable, as it had accomplished substantial achievements in effective prosecution of huge corruption-corporate crimes (during the period between 1981-2013). In addition, there are doubts whether or not the objectivity of speciallyappointed prosecutors would be guaranteed when the appointment is being made by members of national assembly. If the majority of national assembly members don't want the criminal case investigated, then it is likey that the case will not be handled at all.

During the Lee Myung Bak government, Korean prosecutors often faced criticism over seemingly lenient prosecution of several cases, which was known to be related to President Lee's national project and his relatives. Plus, they sometime are blamed of suspicious leniency of investigating prosecutors themselves. However. since election of the President Park, Korean prosecution service has been making efforts on self-purification process in eliminating corruptions. They also are making endeavours in succession to the past Korean prosecution service's effective and objective processing of criminal investigations. .

Criminal Procedures Rules of Evidence The Korean rules of Evidence confers a high probative value to so called suspect interrogation record produced by the prosecutors; Which is "a protocol containing a statement of a suspect or of any other person, prepared by a public prosecutor or a judicial police." This document is technically a hearsay under the English American legal system though and contains a record of confession made without assistance of legal counsel. While either the police officer or prosecutor can produce a suspect interrogation record, one Page 41 of 93

made by a prosecutor is admissible if the suspect confirms the genuineness of the Record at a preparatory hearing or during the trial. If the suspect denies the genuineness, the Record could still be admissible if there is a circumstantial guarantee of trustworthiness. However, the Record made by a police officer is inadmissible if the Suspect denies the genuineness later in the process.

The suspect can confirm genuineness by signing the Record at the end which then is presumed to have confirmed it. Another way to confirm is by substantial acknowledgement where the defendant verifies the content of the Record. The police produced Record is required to have the substantial acknowledgement.

Role of Counsel Currently, the defense lawyers play a minimal role in the interrogation process. Defense counsels can be present during interrogation and can only object when the method of interrogation is unjust and the counsel can give opinion only after the interrogators approves.

Jury Trial On January 2008, Korea began experimenting with a limited form of lay jury system.

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Civil Rights Citizens of the Republic of Korea are guaranteed several rights by Chapter II of the Constitution. These rights include (but are not limited to):    

freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and the press; the rights to vote, hold public office, and petition the government; protections against double jeopardy, involuntary labor, ex post facto laws, and warrantless searches of residences; and the rights of education, work, marriage, and health

In addition to the rights granted in this section of the Constitution, two duties are imposed upon citizens of the Republic of Korea: the duty to pay taxes and the duty to enter into military service. In addition, Article 37(2) provides that the "freedoms and rights of citizens may be restricted by law only when necessary for national security, the maintenance of law and order, or for public welfare."

One limitation placed on civil rights in South Korea is the National Security Act, which limits "anti-government activities." In particular, the National Security Act criminalizes activities such as promoting anti-government ideologies (especially communism) or joining anti-government organizations. The Constitutional Court has narrowed the applicational scope of the National Security Act over the years.

Nevertheless, Korean activist lawyers had managed to become a formidable institution within Korea's legal system, in part due to the election of Roh Moo-hyun as president.

Criminal Law Criminal law in South Korea is largely codified in the Penal Code, which was originally enacted in 1953, and has undergone little revision since. In addition to the Penal Code, several 'special acts' have been enacted which create criminal offenses not found in the Penal Code or else modify the penalties of crimes found in the Penal Code. In cases where provisions in a special act create an apparent conflict with the Penal Code, the special act is usually given preference.

Due process Both the Constitution and the Penal code contain provisions which prohibit ex post facto laws and violations of due process. In addition, the Constitution requires judicial warrants for arrest, detention, search, or seizure, except where a person suspected of a crime is caught in flagrante delicto, or where a person suspected of a sufficiently serious crime poses a risk of escape or destruction of evidence, in which cases an ex post facto warrant may be issued.

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Additionally, no criminal suspect may be tortured or compelled to testify against himself.

The Constitution also requires that a person arrested for a crime must be given assistance of counsel (selected or appointed), be informed of the charges against him and of his right to counsel, and have the right to petition the court for habeas corpus. A person arrested for a crime also has the right to have his family or other close kin promptly notified as to the reason, time, and place of his detention.

The Korean Penal Code The Korean Penal code is organized into 372 articles, further organized into 4 chapters of general provisions and 42 chapters of specific provisions. Abortion is punishable by the Korean Penal Code.

Civil Procedure Until recently there are few English literature written about Korean civil procedure. The primary body of law on civil procedure is Korean Civil Procedure Act and the Korean Rules of Civil Procedure (KRCP).

Another important area is the Civil Execution Act first enacted in 2002 as a separate act. For special cases, there is the Family Litigation Act for family law matters and the Bankruptcy and Rehabilitation Act for bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings.

Enactment of the Korean Civil Procedure Act After independence, the Japanese civil procedure law had remained in force until the Korean Civil Procedure Act was enacted on July 1, 1960. The KCPA has been amended 14 times with the most drastic change occurring in 2002. 2002 KCPA emphasized the pretrial phase and the concentration of the trial for the sake of efficiency as well as separating the civil execution from the KCPA. Page 44 of 93

Guiding Principles of KCPA Article 1 of the KCPA stipulates that the court should strive to enhance fairness, speed and efficiency in civil proceedings.

Standing Under the Civil Act, a natural or a juristic person have a party standing. An association and a foundation other than a juristic person can have a standing as a party if additional requirements are met. They are (1) there is a decision making body, (2) representing organ that acts thereby creating and exercising and fulfilling the rights and duties of the organization, (3) assets separate from the assets of its members.

Jurisdiction The district courts along with their branch courts have original jurisdiction over civil cases.

A single judge presides over a case in controversy not exceeding 50 million Korean Won. Above that amount, a panel of three judges hears the case. Cases that are complex and difficult for a single judge to handle are handled by the three-judge panel as well. The specific rules are prescribed in the Regulation on the Subject Matter Jurisdiction in Civil and Family Litigations.

The parties can also establish jurisdiction of a particular court by agreement in writing unless another court has an exclusive jurisdiction over the matter. If the defendant fails to raise a timely jurisdictional challenge in its pleading during the pre-trial on the merits of the case and the defendant is deemed to have consented to the jurisdiction.

For cases of international character, Korean Private International Law, also known as Conflicts of Laws determines the jurisdiction. A Korean court has jurisdiction when a party or a case in controversy has substantial relationship with Korea. In determining the jurisdiction, the unique nature of international jurisdiction and the relevant clauses in Korean law should be considered as well.

Venue There are general and special venues under Korean civil procedure. The court at the defendant's domicile can hear the claims. If the defendant's domicile is not known or does not exist, the court at the defendant's residence can hear the claim. The KCPA also lists special venues in addition to general venues such as the workplace, where the obligation is performed, where the subject matter is located, or where the tort occurred. If there is a multiple venues, the plaintiff can choose one of them to bring action.

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Litigation Process Filing a Complaint A civil action begins when a plaintiff files a complaint, which sets out the alleged facts and remedy sought, with the court. A complaint must state the parties, legal representative if any, the remedy sought and cause of actions. The plaintiff can seek remedy such as damages, specific performance and injunctions. The three types of actions are performance, declaratory and formation claims.

Performance Claims The action is to compel the defendant to perform or refrain from certain acts.

Declaratory Claims The action is to have the court declare existence or absence of the legal relationship in controversy.

Formation Claims The action is to create or change a legal relationship by a court order.

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Service of Process When a complaint is properly received by the court, the court serves the defendant with a duplicate of the complaint. usually by certified mail but also by court officials or a marshall.

If the defendant's address cannot be found, the court can order a public notice instead.

Dismissing Complaint The plaintiff can dismiss the case at any time before the defendant makes his pleading on the merit. In such case, the defendant is deemed to have consented to dismissal if he makes no objection within two weeks after the plaintiff moves to do so.

Pretrial Period This period is to clarify disputed facts and legal issues. The parties exchanges briefs and supporting documents through answers and counterclaims under the court supervision.

The defendant is required to file a written answer within 30 days after the complaint is served. In an answer, the defendant can accept, dispute or remain silent about the allegations.

Judgement without a Trial If the defendant accepts the claim or admits all the facts, the court can render a judgment without a trial. When the defendant fails to timely contest the complaints or remains silent, the court can regard it as acceptance or admission as well.

Trial When the pre-trial period is over, the judge sets the date for a trial. The trial is public and done orally. As there is no jury in civil litigation, all trials are bench trials. The parties can represent pro se and the court could appoint a public defender for In forma pauperis.

Rules of Evidence The contested facts need to be proven by evidence while facts admitted by the opponent do not require evidence. The judge can only rule based on the evidence presented and cannot use his or her personal knowledge to rule on the case. The court has a very wide discretion on assessing relevance and materiality of evidence and virtually any type of evidence can be admitted to the court. Typically, documentary evidences tend to have higher probative value than oral testimony.

Witnesses Unlike other countries, the party to the litigation cannot be a witness. Witnesses have a privilege not to testify if he or she has a justification. KCPA Article 315(1) lists attorneys, Page 47 of 93

patent attorneys, notary public, certified public account, doctors, pharmacists and priests to have such privilege.

The witness is first examined by one party and cross examined by the opposing party, followed by re-direct and re-cross. The judge can also ask questions to the witnesses during the examinations. Leading questions are permitted only on cross-examinations and not others.

Verdict After the conclusion of the trial, the judge renders a judgment based on the evidences presented and law. The opinion of the court follows a highly structured format of (1) parties and legal representatives, cause of action, date when the pleadings were done, the court. Unlike the opinions of the common law jurisdictions, the Korean judicial opinions tend to be brief and often lack detailed reasoning for the conclusion.

Appeal When the decision is given, the losing party can appeal to the court above within 14 days after the judgement is served to that party or else the judgement becomes final. The other party can cross appeal as well. The court of appeals can examine the facts as well as law and the parties can submit new allegations and evidences.

After the appellate court makes decision, the parties can appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court hears a large number of appeal cases (about 8,859 in 2006) and sometimes rules on factual issues as well.

Res judicata After the appeal process is over, the judgment is finalized and is binding.

Enforcement The enforcement of civil judgements is dictated by the Civil Execution Act. Judgments rendered by a foreign court can be enforced.

Private Law Private Law issues in Korea are regulated by the civil code (민법,民法) and the commerce code (상법,商法). The civil code of Korea was enacted in 1960 and is based upon the Japanese civil code which was the used in Korea prior to the enactment.

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Tort Law Korean Civil Code Article 750 defines torts by stating "Any person who causes losses to or inflicts injuries on another person by an unlawful act, willfully or negligently, shall make compensation for damages."

International Laws and Treaties Treaties ratified by the Republic of Korea have the same effect as domestic law, as stated in Article 6 of the Constitution. The Constitution gives the power to make treaties to the President, while the National Assembly has the right to consent to treaties made by the President. South Korea is currently party to several international agreements and organizations.

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The South Korean Military

A long history of invasions by neighbors and the unresolved tension with North Korea have prompted South Korea to allocate 2.6% of its GDP and 15% of all government spending to its military (Government share of GDP: 14.967%), while maintaining compulsory conscription for men. Consequently, South Korea has the world's sixth largest number of active troops (650,000 in 2011), the world's second-largest number of reserve troops (3,200,000 in 2011) and the eleventh largest defense budget. The Republic of Korea, with both regular and reserve military force numbering 3.7 million regular personnel among a total national population of 50 million people, has the second highest number of soldiers per capita in the world, after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The South Korean military consists of the Army (ROKA), the Navy (ROKN), the Air Force (ROKAF), and the Marine Corps (ROKMC), and reserve forces. Many of these forces are concentrated near the Korean Demilitarized Zone. All South Korean males are constitutionally required to serve in the military, typically 21 months. Previously, Koreans of mixed race were exempt from military duty but no exception from 2011.

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In addition to male conscription in South Korea's sovereign military, 1,800 Korean males are selected every year to serve 21 months in the KATUSA Program to further augment the USFK. In 2010, South Korea was spending â‚Š1.68 trillion in a cost-sharing agreement with the US to provide budgetary support to the US forces in Korea, on top of the â‚Š29.6 trillion budget for its own military.

The South Korean army has 2,500 tanks in operation, including the K1A1 and K2 Black Panther, which form the backbone of the South Korean army's mechanized armor and infantry forces. A sizable arsenal of many artillery systems, including 1,700 self-propelled K55 and K9 Thunder howitzers and 680 helicopters and UAVs of numerous types, are assembled to provide additional fire, reconnaissance, and logistics support. South Korea's smaller but more advanced artillery force and wide range of airborne reconnaissance platforms are pivotal in the counter-battery suppression of North Korea's over-sized artillery force, which operates more than 13,000 artillery systems deployed in various state of fortification and mobility.

The South Korean navy has made its first major transformation into a blue-water navy through the formation of the Strategic Mobile Fleet, which includes a battle group of Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class destroyers, Dokdo class amphibious assault ship, AIP-driven Type 214 submarines, and King Sejong the Great class destroyers, which is equipped with the latest baseline of Aegis fleet-defense system that allows the ships to track and destroy multiple cruise missiles and ballistic missiles simultaneously, forming an integral part of Page 52 of 93

South Korea's indigenous missile defense umbrella against the North Korean military's missile threat.

The South Korean air force operates 840 aircraft, making it world's ninth largest air force, including several types of advanced fighters like F-15K, heavily modified KF-16C/D, and the indigenous F/A-50, supported by well-maintained fleets of older fighters such as F-4E and KF-5E/F that still effectively serve the air force alongside the more modern aircraft. In an attempt to gain strength in terms of not just numbers but also modernity, the commissioning of four Boeing 737 AEW&C aircraft, under Project Peace Eye for centralized intelligence gathering and analysis on a modern battlefield, will enhance the fighters' and other support aircraft's ability to perform their missions with awareness and precision.

ROKAF TA-50 Golden Eagle

In May 2011, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., South Korea's largest plane maker, signed a $400 million deal to sell 16 T-50 Golden Eagle trainer jets to Indonesia, making South Korea the first country in Asia to export supersonic jets.

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 325,517 troops to fight alongside American, Australian, Filipino, New Zealand and South Vietnamese soldiers in the Vietnam War, with a peak strength of 50,000. In 2004, South Korea sent 3,300 troops of the Zaytun Division to help Page 53 of 93

re-building in northern Iraq, and was the third largest contributor in the coalition forces after only the US and Britain. Beginning in 2001, South Korea had so far deployed 24,000 troops in the Middle East region to support the War on Terrorism. A further 1,800 were deployed since 2007 to reinforce UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon.

The United States have stationed a substantial contingent of troops in South Korea since the Korean War to defend South Korea in case of East Asian military crises. There are approximately 28,500 U.S. Military personnel stationed in Korea, most of them serving one year of unaccompanied tours. The American troops, which are primarily ground and air units, are assigned to US Forces Korea and mainly assigned to the Eighth United States Army of the US Army & Seventh Air Force of the US Air Force. They are stationed in installations at Osan, Kunsan, Yongsan, Dongducheon, Sungbuk, Camp Humphreys, and Daegu, as well as at Camp Bonifas in the DMZ Joint Security Area . A still functioning UN Command is technically the top of the chain of command of all forces in South Korea, including the US forces and the entire South Korean military – if a sudden escalation of war between North and South Korea were to occur the United States would assume control of the South Korean armed forces in all military and paramilitary moves. However, in September 2006, the Presidents of the United States and the Republic of Korea agreed that South Korea should assume the lead for its own defense. In early 2007, the U.S. Secretary of Defense and ROK Minister of National Defense determined that South Korea will assume wartime operational control of its forces on December 1, 2015. U.S. Forces Korea will transform into a new joint-warfighting command, provisionally described as Korea Command (KORCOM).

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Science & Technology Cyber Security Following cyberattacks in the first half of 2013, whereby government, news-media, television station, and bank websites were compromised, the national government committed to the training of 5,000 new cybersecurity experts by 2017. The South Korean government blamed its northern counterpart for these attacks, as well as incidents that occurred in 2009, 2011 and 2012, but Pyongyang denies the accusations.

In late September 2013, a computer-security competition jointly sponsored by the defense ministry and the National Intelligence Service was announced. The winners will be announced on September 29, 2013 and will share a total prize pool of 80 million won (US$74,000).

Aerospace Research South Korea has sent up 10 satellites from 1992, all using foreign rockets and overseas launch pads, notably Arirang-1 in 1999, and Arirang-2 in 2006 as part of its space partnership with Russia. Arirang-1 was lost in space in 2008, after nine years in service.

In April 2008, Yi So-yeon became the first Korean to fly in space, aboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-12.

In June 2009, the first spaceport of South Korea, Naro Space Center, was completed at Goheung, Jeollanam-do. The launch of Naro-1 in August 2009 resulted in a failure. The second attempt in June 2010 was also unsuccessful.

However the third launch of the Naro 1 in January 2013 was successful. The government plans to develop Naro-2 by the year 2018.

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indigenous space launch vehicle is marred because of persistent political pressure of the United States, who had for many decades hindered South Korea's indigenous rocket and missile development programs in fear of their possible connection to clandestine military ballistic missile programs, which Korea many times insisted did not violate the research and development guidelines stipulated by US-Korea agreements on restriction of South Korean rocket technology research and development. South Korea has sought the assistance of foreign countries such as Russia through MTCR commitments to supplement its restricted domestic rocket technology. The two failed KSLV-I launch vehicles were based on the Universal Rocket Module, the first stage of the Russian Angara rocket, combined with a solid-fueled second stage built by South Korea.

Robotics Robotics has been included in the list of main national R&D projects in Korea since 2003. In 2009, the government announced plans to build robot-themed parks in Incheon and Masan with a mix of public and private funding.

In 2005, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed the world's second walking humanoid robot, HUBO. A team in the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology developed the first Korean android, EveR-1 in May 2006. EveR-1 has been succeeded by more complex models with improved movement and vision.

Plans of creating English-teaching robot assistants to compensate for the shortage of teachers were announced in February 2010, with the robots being deployed to most preschools and kindergartens by 2013. Robotics are also incorporated in the entertainment sector as well; the Korean Robot Game Festival has been held every year since 2004 to promote science and robot technology.

Biotechnology Since the 1980s, the Korean government has invested in the development of a domestic biotechnology industry, and the sector is projected to grow to $6.5 billion by 2010. The medical sector accounts for a large part of the production, including production of hepatitis vaccines and antibiotics.

Recently, research and development in genetics and cloning has received increasing attention, with the first successful cloning of a dog, Snuppy (in 2005), and the cloning of two females of an endangered species of wolves by the Seoul National University in 2007.

The rapid growth of the industry has resulted in significant voids in regulation of ethics, as was highlighted by the scientific misconduct case involving Hwang Woo-Suk.

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The South Korean Economy South Korea's market economy ranks 14th in the world by nominal GDP and 13th by purchasing power parity (PPP), identifying it as one of the G-20 major economies. It is a developed country with a high-income economy and is the most industrialised member country of the OECD. South Korea's economy was one of the world's fastest-growing from the early 1960s to the late 1990s, and South Korea is still one of the fastestgrowing developed countries in the 2000s, along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, the other three Asian Tigers. South Koreans refer to this growth as the Miracle on the Han River.[150] The South Korean economy is heavily dependent on international trade, and in 2013, South Korea was the 8th largest exporter and 7th largest importer in the world.

South Korea hosted the fifth G20 summit in its capital city, Seoul, in November 2010. The two-day summit was expected to boost South Korea's economy by 31 trillion won, or 4% of South Korea's 2010 GDP, in economic effects, and create over 160,000 jobs in South Korea.

It may also help improve the country's sovereign credit rating.

Despite the South Korean economy's high growth potential and apparent structural stability, the country suffers damage to its credit rating in the stock market because of the belligerence of North Korea in times of deep military crises, which has an adverse effect on South Korean financial markets. The International Monetary Fund compliments the resilience of the South Korean economy against various economic crises, citing low state debt and high fiscal reserves that can quickly be mobilized to address financial emergencies. Although it was severely harmed by the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s, the South Korean economy managed a rapid recovery and subsequently tripled its GDP. Furthermore, South Korea was one of the few developed countries that were able to avoid a recession during the global financial crisis. Its economic growth rate reached 6.2 percent in 2010 (the fastest growth for eight years after significant growth by 7.2 percent in 2002), a sharp recovery from economic growth rates of 2.3% in 2008 and 0.2% in 2009, when the global financial crisis hit. The unemployment rate in South Korea also remained low in 2009, at 3.6%.

The following list includes the largest South Korean companies by revenue in 2013 who are all listed as part of the Fortune Global 500:

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Rank

Name

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

Samsung Electronics SK Holdings Hyundai Motor POSCO LG Electronics Hyundai Heavy Industries Korea Electric Power Kia Motors GS Caltex Hanwha Korea Gas Hyundai Mobis S-Oil Samsung Life Insurance Samsung C&T Lotte Shopping LG Display

Headquarters Suwon Seoul Seoul Pohang Seoul Ulsan Naju Seoul Seoul Seoul Seongnam Seoul Seoul Seoul Seoul Seoul Seoul

Revenue (Mil. $) 208,938 102,122 79,766 56,520 53,118 49,507 49,072 43,486 41,715 35,379 34,774 31,244 28,467 26,167 25,977 25,774 24,697

Profit (Mil. $) 27,245 258.2 7,804 1,257 161.5 254.6 54.8 3,487 341.4 118.8 -183.4 3,126 264.6 832.6 221.5 720.3 389.3

Assets (Mil. $) 202,876 87,716 126,441 80,037 33,669 50,421 147,391 34,289 21,119 107,394 41,382 32,629 11,297 182,855 24,133 36,933 20,579

Transportation, Energy and Infrastructure South Korea has a technologically advanced transport network consisting of high-speed railways, highways, bus routes, ferry services, and air routes that criss-cross the country.

Korea Expressway Corporation operates the toll highways and service amenities en route.

Korail provides frequent train services 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.

Major cities including Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon and Gwangju have urban rapid transit systems. Express bus terminals are available in most cities.

South Korea's largest airport, Incheon International Airport, was completed in 2001. By 2007, it was serving 30 million passengers a year. Other international airports include Gimpo, Busan and Jeju. There are also seven domestic airports, and a large number of heliports.

Korean Air, founded in 1962, served 21,640,000 passengers, including 12,490,000 international passengers in 2008. A second carrier, Asiana Airlines, established in 1988, also serves domestic and international traffic. Combined, South Korean airlines serve 297 international routes. Smaller airlines, such as Jeju Air, provide domestic service with lower fares.

South Korea is the world's fifth-largest nuclear power producer and the second-largest in Asia as of 2010.[167] Nuclear power in South Korea supplies 45% of electricity production, Page 60 of 93

and research is very active with investigation into a variety of advanced reactors, including a small modular reactor, a liquid-metal fast/transmutation reactor and a high-temperature hydrogen generation design. Fuel production and waste handling technologies have also been developed locally. It is also a member of the ITER project.

Galaxy S4 made by South Korea's Samsung Electronics, the world's largest technology company measured by 2012 revenues.

South Korea is an emerging exporter of nuclear reactors, having concluded agreements with the UAE to build and maintain four advanced nuclear reactors, with Jordan for a research nuclear reactor,[170][171] and with Argentina for construction and repair of heavywater nuclear reactors. As of 2010, South Korea and Turkey are in negotiations regarding construction of two nuclear reactors. South Korea is also preparing to bid on construction of a light-water nuclear reactor for Argentina.

South Korea is not allowed to enrich uranium or develop traditional uranium enrichment technology on its own, because of US political pressure, unlike most major nuclear powers such as Japan, Germany, and France, competitors of South Korea in the international nuclear market. This impediment to South Korea's indigenous nuclear industrial undertaking has sparked occasional diplomatic rows between the two allies. While South Page 61 of 93

Korea is successful in exporting its electricity-generating nuclear technology and nuclear reactors, it cannot capitalize on the market for nuclear enrichment facilities and refineries, preventing it from further expanding its export niche. South Korea has sought unique technologies such as pyroprocessing to circumvent these obstacles and seek a more advantageous competition. The US has recently been wary of South Korea's burgeoning nuclear program, which South Korea insists will be for civilian use only.

South Korea is the third highest ranked Asian country in the World Economic Forum's Network Readiness Index (NRI) after Singapore and Hong Kong respectively – an indicator for determining the development level of a country’s information and communication technologies. South Korea ranked number 10 overall in the 2014 NRI ranking, up from 11 in 2013.

Incheon International Airport's Maglev Station.

Tourism In 2012, 11.1 million foreign tourists visited South Korea, making it the 20th most visited country in the world, up from 8.5 million in 2010. Due to Hallyu, South Korea welcomed more than 12 million visitors in 2013 with 6 million tourists coming from China alone. With rising tourist prospects, especially from foreign countries outside of Asia, the South Korean government has set a target of attracting 20 million foreign tourists a year by 2017.

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Hallyu's positive effects of the nation's entertainment industry are not limited to within its culture industry, according to a study by the Hyundai Research Institute. The Hyundai Research Institute reported that the Korean Wave has a direct impact in encouraging direct foreign investment back into the country through demand for products, and the tourism industry. Among Asian countries, China was the most receptive, investing 1.4 billion in South Korea, with much of the investment within its service sector, a sevenfold increase from 2001. According to economist, Han Sang-Wan, shown an analysis that a 1 percent increase of exports of Korean cultural content pushes consumer goods exports up 0.083 percent while a 1 percent increase in Korean pop content exports to a country produces a 0.019 percent bump in tourism.

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Education & Culture Education

in South Korea is provided by both public schools and private schools. Both types of schools receive funding from the government, although the amount that the private schools receive is less than the amount of the state schools.

Education in South Korea is highly valued in South Korean culture and is regarded as crucial to socioeconomic success in South Korean society. Competition is consequently fierce, with many participating in intense outside tutoring to supplement classes to gain a competitive edge over their peers. In 2012, South Korea scored fifth in reading and mathematics and seventh in science on the PISA 2012 Tests. South Korea's education system is technologically advanced and it is the world's first country to bring high-speed fibre-optic broadband internet access to every primary and secondary school nation-wide. Using this infrastructure, the country has developed the first digital textbooks in the world, which will be distributed for free to every primary and secondary school nation-wide by 2013.

The South Korean education system has been praised for various reasons, including its comparatively high results and its major role in bringing Korea's economic development.

Many international political figures such as the U.S. President Barack Obama have praised South Korea for its rigorous education system, where more than 85 percent of South Korean high school graduates go on to college thus establishing a highly motivated and educated populace. In addition, 65 percent of South Koreans aged 25–34 hold at least a bachelor's degree, the most in the OECD, while the global OECD average is 39 percent.

A centralized administration in South Korea oversees the process for the education of children from kindergarten to the third and final year of high school. South Korea has adopted a new educational program to increase the number of their foreign students through 2010. According to Ministry of Education, Science and Technology estimate, by that time, the number of scholarships for foreign students in South Korea will be doubled, and the number of foreign students will reach 100,000.

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The school year is divided into two semesters, the first of which begins in the beginning of March and ends in mid-July, the second of which begins in late August and ends in midFebruary. The schedules are not uniformly standardized and vary from school to school.

Most South Korean middle schools and high schools have school uniforms, modeled on western-style uniforms. Boys' uniforms usually consists of trousers and white shirts, and girls wear skirts and white shirts (this only applies in middle schools and high schools).

Roughly 65 percent of South Koreans aged 25–34 hold at least a bachelors degree, the most in the OECD, while the global OECD average is 39 percent.

However, its rigid, hierarchical structure has been criticized for lowering innovation. It has also been described as 'intensely competitive. The system has also been attributed for the high suicide rate in South Korea as well as increased uncertainty about job prospects may do little to quell national anxiety around a college entrance exam that is already regarded as having lasting consequences for one’s career and life. It has also been criticized for producing an oversupply of university graduates in the country, where the first quarter of 2013 alone, nearly 3.3 million South Korean university graduates were jobless, leading many graduates overqualified for jobs requiring less education. In addition, further criticism has been stemmed for causing labor shortages in many vocational occupations, which many go unfilled. Despite strong criticism and research statistics pointing alternative career options, many South Korean parents still continue to encourage their children to enter work than vacation schools.

Culture South Korea shares its traditional culture with North Korea, but the two Koreas have developed distinct contemporary forms of culture since the peninsula was divided in 1945.

Historically, while the culture of Korea has been heavily influenced by that of neighboring China, it has nevertheless managed to develop a unique cultural identity that is distinct from its larger neighbor. The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism actively

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encourages the traditional arts, as well as modern forms, through funding and education programs.

The industrialization and urbanization of South Korea have brought many changes to the way Korean people live. Changing economics and lifestyles have led to a concentration of population in major cities, especially the capital Seoul, with multi-generational households separating into nuclear family living arrangements. A 2014 Euromonitor study found that South Koreans drink the most alcohol on a weekly basis compared to the rest of the world.

South Koreans drink 13.7 shots of liquor per week on average and, of the 44 other countries analyzed, Russia, the Philippines, and Thailand follow.

Art Korean art has been highly influenced by Buddhism and Confucianism, which can be seen in the many traditional paintings, sculptures, ceramics and the performing arts. Korean pottery and porcelain, such as Joseon's baekja and buncheong, and Goryeo's celadon are well known throughout the world. The Korean tea ceremony, pansori, talchum and buchaechum are also notable Korean performing arts.

Post-war modern Korean art started to flourish in the 1960s and 1970s, when South Korean artists took interest in geometrical shapes and intangible subjects. Establishing a harmony between man and nature was also a favorite of this time. Because of social instability, social issues appeared as main subjects in the 1980s. Art was influenced by various international events and exhibits in Korea, and with it brought more diversity. The Olympic Sculpture Garden in 1988, the transposition of the 1993 edition of the Whitney Biennial to Seoul, the creation of the Gwangju Biennale and the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1995 were notable events.

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Architecture Because of South Korea's tumultuous history, construction and destruction has been repeated endlessly, resulting in an interesting melange of architectural styles and designs.

Korean traditional architecture is characterized by its harmony with nature. Ancient architects adopted the bracket system characterized by thatched roofs and heated floors called ondol. People of the upper classes built bigger houses with elegantly curved tiled roofs with lifting eaves. Traditional architecture can be seen in the palaces and temples, preserved old houses called hanok, and special sites like Hahoe Folk Village, Yangdong Village of Gyeongju and Korean Folk Village. Traditional architecture may also be seen at the nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites in South Korea.

Korean cuisine, hanguk yori (한국요리; 韓國料理), or hansik (한식; 韓食), has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Ingredients and dishes vary by province.

There are many significant regional dishes that have proliferated in different variations across the country in the present day. The Korean royal court cuisine once brought all of the unique regional specialties together for the royal family. Meals consumed both by the royal family and ordinary Korean citizens have been regulated by a unique culture of etiquette.

Korean cuisine is largely based on rice, noodles, tofu, vegetables, fish and meats.

Traditional Korean meals are noted for the number of side dishes, banchan (반찬), which accompany steam-cooked short-grain rice. Every meal is accompanied by numerous banchan. Kimchi (김치), a fermented, usually spicy vegetable dish is commonly served at every meal and is one of the best known Korean dishes. Korean cuisine usually involves heavy seasoning with sesame oil, doenjang (된장), a type of fermented soybean paste, soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger, and gochujang (고추장), a hot pepper paste. Other well-known dishes are Bulgogi (불고기), grilled marinated beef, Gimbap (김밥), and Tteokbokki (떡볶이), a spicy snack consisting of rice cake seasoned with gochujang or a spicy chili paste.

Soups are also a common part of a Korean meal and are served as part of the main course rather than at the beginning or the end of the meal. Soups known as guk (국) are often made with meats, shellfish and vegetables. Similar to guk, tang (탕; 湯) has less water, and is more often served in restaurants. Another type is jjigae (찌개), a stew that is typically heavily seasoned with chili pepper and served boiling hot.

South Korean snack companies, such as Lotte, are famous for making a wide range of Korean or other Asian-inspired snacks. One example is Pepero, a snack similar to Pocky, which originates from Japan. Pepero is manufactured by Lotte Confectionery.

Popular Korean alcoholic beverages include Soju, Makgeolli and Bokbunja ju.

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Contemporary Music, Film and Television In addition to domestic consumption, South Korean mainstream culture, including televised drama, films, and popular music, also generates significant exports to various parts of the world. This phenomenon, often called "Hallyu" or the "Korean Wave", has swept many countries in Asia and other parts of the world.

Until the 1990s, trot and ballads dominated Korean popular music. The emergence of the rap group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 marked a turning point for Korean popular music, also known as K-pop, as the group incorporated elements of popular musical genres of rap, rock, and techno into its music. Hip hop, dance and ballad oriented acts have become dominant in the Korean popular music scene, though trot is still popular among older Koreans. Many K-pop stars and groups are also well known abroad, especially in other parts of Asia. A solo artist known as Psy has rescently topped charts around the world with his hit Gangnam Style.

Since the success of the film Shiri in 1999, Korean film has begun to gain recognition internationally. Domestic film has a dominant share of the market, partly because of the existence of screen quotas requiring cinemas to show Korean films at least 73 days a year.

Korean television shows have become popular outside of Korea. Dramas have tended to have a romantic focus, such as Princess Hours, You're Beautiful, Playful Kiss, My Name is Kim Sam Soon, Boys Over Flowers, Winter Sonata, Autumn in My Heart, Full House, City Hunter, All About Eve, Secret Garden, I Can Hear Your Voice, Master's Sun, and My Love from the Star. Historical dramas have included Faith, Dae Jang Geum, The Legend, Dong Yi, Moon Embracing the Sun, and Sungkyunkwan Scandal.

Holidays There are many official public holidays in South Korea. Korean New Year's Day, or "Seollal," is celebrated on the first day of the Korean lunar calendar. Korean Independence Day falls on March 1, and commemorates the March 1st Movement of 1919. Memorial Day is celebrated on June 6, and its purpose is to honor the men and women who died in South Korea's independence movement. Constitution Day is on July 17, and it celebrates the promulgation of Constitution of the Republic of Korea. Liberation Day, on August 15,

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celebrates Korea's liberation from the Empire of Japan in 1945. Every 15th day of the 8th lunar month, Koreans celebrate the Midautumn Festival, in which Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and eat a variety of traditional Korean foods. On October 1, Armed Forces day is celebrated, honoring the military forces of South Korea. October 3 is National Foundation Day. Hangul Day, on October 9 commemorates the invention of hangul, the native alphabet of the Korean language. There are also unofficial holidays celebrated in Korea, such as Pepero Day, a day to celebrate the Korean snack of Pepero.

Technology Culture South Korean corporations Samsung and LG were ranked first and third largest mobile phone companies in the world in the first quarter of 2012, respectively. An estimated 90% of South Koreans own a mobile phone. Aside from placing/receiving calls and text messaging, mobile phones in the country are widely used for watching Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) or viewing websites.

Over one million DMB phones have been sold and the three major wireless communications providers SK Telecom, KT, and LG U+ provide coverage in all major cities and other areas. South Korea has the fastest Internet download speeds in the world, with an average download speed of 17.5 Mbit/s.

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South Korean Sports The martial art taekwondo originated in Korea. In the 1950s and 1960s, modern rules were standardized, with taekwondo becoming an official Olympic sport in 2000.

Other Korean martial arts include taekkyeon, hapkido, Tang Soo Do, Kuk Sool Won, kumdo and subak.

Football has traditionally been regarded as the most popular sport in Korea. Recent polling indicates that a majority, 41% of South Korean sports fans continue to selfidentify as football fans, with baseball ranked 2nd at 25% of respondents. However, the polling did not indicate the extent to which respondents follow both sports. The national football team became the first team in the Asian Football Confederation to reach the FIFA World Cup semi-finals in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan. The Korea Republic national team (as it is known) has qualified for every World Cup since Mexico 1986, and has broken out of the group stage twice: first in 2002, and again in 2010, when it was defeated by eventual semi-finalist Uruguay in the Round of 16. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, South Korea won the Bronze Medal for football.

Baseball was first introduced to Korea in 1905 and has since become increasingly popular, with some sources claiming it has surpassed football as the most popular sport in the country.[234][235][236] Recent years have been characterized by increasing attendance and ticket prices for professional baseball games. The Korea Professional Baseball league, a 9team circuit, was established in 1982. The South Korea national team finished third in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and second in the 2009 tournament. The team's 2009 final game against Japan was widely watched in Korea, with a large screen at Gwanghwamun crossing in Seoul broadcasting the game live. In the 2008 Summer Olympics, South Korea won the gold medal in baseball. Also in 1982, at the Baseball Worldcup, Korea won the gold medal. At the 2010 Asian Games, the Korean National Baseball team won the gold medal.

Three notable Korean baseball players are Chan Ho Park, Shin-Soo Choo, and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Basketball is a popular sport in the country as well. South Korea has traditionally had one of the top basketball teams in Asia and one of the continent's strongest basketball divisions.

Seoul hosted the 1967 and 1995 Asian Basketball Championship. The Korea national basketball team has won a record number of 23 medals at the event to date.

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South Korea hosted the Asian Games in 1986 (Seoul), 2002 (Busan) and 2014 (Incheon). It also hosted the Winter Universiade in 1997, the Asian Winter Games in 1999 and the Summer Universiade in 2003. In 1988, South Korea hosted the Summer Olympics in Seoul, coming fourth with 12 gold medals, 10 silver medals and 11 bronze medals. South Korea regularly performs well in archery, shooting, table tennis, badminton, short track speed skating, handball, hockey, freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, baseball, judo, taekwondo, speed skating, figure Skating, and weightlifting. The Seoul Olympic Museum is a museum in Seoul, South Korea, dedicated to the 1988 Summer Olympics. On July 6, 2011 Pyeongchang was chosen by the IOC to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

South Korea has won more medals in the Winter Olympics than any other Asian country with a total of 45 medals (23 gold, 14 silver, and 8 bronze). At the 2010 Winter Olympics, South Korea ranked fifth in the overall medal rankings. South Korea is especially strong in short track speed skating. However, speed skating and figure skating are very popular, too, and ice hockey is an emerging sport with Anyang Halla winning their first ever Asia League Ice Hockey title in March 2010.

Seoul hosted a professional triathlon race, which is part of the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championship Series in May 2010. In 2011, the South Korean city of Daegu hosted the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Athletics.

In October 2010, South Korea hosted its first Formula One race at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, about 400 kilometres (250 mi) south of Seoul. The Korean Grand Prix was held from 2010 to 2013, but was not placed on the 2014 F1 calendar.

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Domestic horse racing events are also followed by South Koreans and Seoul Race Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do is located closest to Seoul out of the country's three tracks.

Electronic sports, also called eSports or competitive gaming, has become a staple of South Korea in recent years. It has become something of a career for many young people. This is managed by the Korean e-Sports Association (KeSPA for short), and top players can make large sums of money. The two most popular games are League of Legends and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. Some players in Starcraft II and its standalone expansions can end up making six figures.

Korean e-Sports Association Korea Professional Sports League Baseball

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Korea Professional Baseball Korea Baseball Futures League

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Basketball

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Football

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Korean Basketball League Women's Korean Basketball League

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Volleyball

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K League Classic (1st) K League Challenge (2nd) National League Challengers League WK-League

VLeague

International Championship Host Olympic Games

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Seoul Summer 1988 Pyeongchang Winter 2018

FIFA World Cup

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Asian Games

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Seoul Summer

Korea & Japan 2002 Korea 2007 (U17) Korea 2017 (U20)

IAAF World Championships in Athletics

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AFC Asian Cup

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Korea

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Gwangju 2019

Daegu 2011

Universiade

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FINA World Aquatics Championships

Muju/Jeonju

Formula One

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Korean Grand

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  

1986 Gangwon Winter 1999 Busan Summer 2002 Incheon Summer 2014

1960  

Winter 1997 Daegu Summer 2003 Gwangju Summer 2015

Prix

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Park Geun-hye

Asia’s First Female Head of State Park

Geun-hye

(박근혜,

Korean pronunciation: [pak.kɯnhe]; born

2 February 1952) is the eleventh and current President of South Korea. She is the first woman to be elected as President in South Korea and is serving the 18th presidential term. She also is the first female head of state in the modern history of Northeastern Asia and is the first South Korean president to have been born a South Korean citizen. Prior to her presidency, she was the chairwoman of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP) between 2004 and 2006 and between 2011 and 2012 (the GNP changed its name to the "Saenuri Party" in February 2012). Park was also a member of the Korean National Assembly and served four complete consecutive parliamentary terms as a constituency representative between 1998 and 2012; she started her fifth term as a proportional representative in June 2012. Her father was Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea from 1962 to 1979. She is generally considered to be one of the most influential politicians in South Korea since the presidencies of the two Kims: Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung.

In 2013 and 2014, Park was named the world's 11th most powerful woman and the most powerful woman in East Asia by Forbes magazine's list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. She was named the world's 52nd most powerful person by Forbes magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People, the fourth highest among Koreans after Ban Kimoon, Lee Kun-hee and Kim Jong-un.

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Early Life and Education Park was born on 2 February 1952, in Samdeok-dong of Jung-gu, Taegu, as the first child of Park Chung-hee, the 3rd president of South Korea who served between 1963 and 1979, and Yuk Young-soo. She has a younger brother, Park Ji-man, and a younger sister, Park Seoyeong. Park has never been married.

In 1953, Park's family moved to Seoul and she graduated from Seoul's Jangchung Elementary School and Sungshim (literal: Sacred Heart) Girls' Middle & High School in 1970, going on to receive a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering from Sogang University in 1974. She briefly studied at the University of Grenoble, but left France following the assassination of her mother.

Park's mother was assassinated in the National Theater of Korea, Seoul, by Mun Se-gwang, a Japanese-born Korean, a sympathizer of North Korea, and a member of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, on 15 August 1974. Park was regarded as first lady until 1979 when her father was also assassinated–by his own intelligence chief, Kim Jae-gyu–on 26 October 1979. During this time, activists who were political opponents of her father, claimed to be subject to arbitrary detention. Further, human rights were considered subordinate to economic development. In 2007, Park expressed regret at the treatment of activists during this period.

Park received honorary doctoral degrees from the Chinese Culture University, in Taiwan in 1987; Pukyong National University and KAIST in 2008; and Sogang University in 2010.

Career Assemblywoman Park was elected a Grand National Party (GNP) assemblywoman for Dalseong, Daegu, in 1998 by-election, and three more times in the same electoral district between 1998 and 2008, being the incumbent assemblywoman till April 2012. In 2012, Park announced that she would not run for a constituency representative seat for the 19th election in Dalseong or anywhere else, but for a proportional representative position for the Saenuri Party instead, in order to lead the party's election campaign. She was elected as a proportional representative in the April 2012 election.

GNP Chairwoman and "Queen of Elections" Due to the failed attempt to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun, and the bribery scandal of its 2002 presidential candidate, Lee Hoi-chang (revealed in 2004), the GNP was facing a severe defeat in the 2004 general election. Park was appointed as the chairwoman of the party and led the election efforts. In the election, the GNP lost its majority position, but managed to gain 121 seats, which is largely considered a great achievement under such

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inhospitable circumstances for the party. As the chairwoman of the GNP, Park helped her party make significant gains in local elections and actually obtain a majority in 2006.

During the campaign on 20 May 2006, Ji Chung-ho, a 50-year-old criminal with eight previous convictions, slashed Park's face with a utility knife, causing an 11-centimeter wound on her face, requiring 60 stitches and several hours of surgery. A famous anecdote from this incident occurred when Park was hospitalized after the attack. The first word that she said to her secretary after her recovery from her wound was "How is Daejeon?" [13][14] This feat gave Park a nickname "Queen of Elections".

On 12 February 2007, Park made a much-publicized visit to Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Her visit culminated in an address to a packed audience at the Kennedy School of Government, where she said she wanted to "save" Korea and advocated a stronger relationship between South Korea and the United States.

2007 Presidential Bid Park hoped to emulate her father's success by becoming the presidential nominee of the Grand National Party. She eventually lost to Lee Myung-bak by a narrow margin. Lee had a commanding lead at the beginning of the primary season, but Park was able to narrow the gap through allegations of Lee's corruption. Park won the "party member's bid", but she lost the "national bid", which is a larger percentage of the total presidential bid.

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2008 general election After the 2007 presidential election, President Lee Myung-bak formed a government of mostly close supporters. Park's supporters argued that this was a kind of political reprisal, and that they should secede from the Grand National Party. Eventually, they formed parties named Pro-Park Coalition and Solidarity for Pro-Park Independents (친박 무소속 연대; Chin Park Musosok Yeondae). Park herself did not join them, but indirectly supported them by announcing "I hope these people to come back alive." After the mass secession, the rebels announced that they would rejoin GNP after the general election, but the GNP prohibited it. In the following 2008 general election, the rebels won 26 seats: 14 from the Pro-Park Coalition and 12 as independents. Together, they played a pivotal role in the GNP's narrow majority. Park continually insisted that GNP should allow the return of her supporters. As of 2011, most of these rebels had returned to the GNP, resulting in approximately 50 to 60 assembly members who support Park out of 171 in the GNP.

Head of Saenuri Party As a response to the dwindling approval rating of the GNP, the party formed an emergency committee and changed the name of the political party from the Grand National Party to the Saenuri Party, meaning "New Frontier" Party. On 19 December 2011, Park was appointed as the chairwoman of GNP's Emergency Committee, the de facto leader of the party.

2012 Parliamentary Election The Saenuri Party achieved a surprise win against the opposing Democratic United Party in the 2012 General Election, winning 152 seats and retaining its majority position. Because of the corruption scandals of the Lee administration revealed before the election, the Saenuri Party was widely expected to win no more than 100 seats. During the 13-day campaign period, Park traveled about 7200 km around South Korea, visiting more than 100 constituencies. It is the consensus of Korean news media and political experts that the most important factor leading to Saenuri Party's victory was Park's leadership. For this reason, the 2012 election was often dubbed the "return of the Queen of Election". Saenuri's defeat in the populous Seoul metropolitan area in this election, however, revealed the limitation of Park's political influence.

2012 Presidential Campaign Park had been the leading candidate for the 2012 presidential election in every nationallevel poll in South Korea between 2008, when the Lee Myung-bak administration began, and September 2011, with an approval rating of 25% to 45%, more than twice that of the second candidate. Park's approval rating was highest when the 2008 National Assembly election showed her strong influence and lowest in early 2010 as a result of her political stance against the Lee administration in Sejong City issue. In September 2011, Ahn Cheolsoo, a former venture IT businessman and the Dean of Graduate School of Convergence Page 80 of 93

Science and Technology at Seoul National University, emerged as a strong independent candidate for the presidency. In national-level presidential polls in September 2011, Ahn and Park Geun Hye closely competed for the status of front-runner, with Park losing the top seat in some polls for the first time since 2008.

After her victory in the 2012 General Election, Park's approval rating increased significantly. In a national-level survey by Mono Research on 30 August Park was the top presidential candidate with an approval rating of 45.5% when competing with all potential candidates, and according to another recent national survey result, had a higher approval rating (50.6%) than Ahn (43.9%) in a two-way competition with him as of 11 September.

On 10 July, Park formally announced her 2012 presidential bid at the Time Square, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. In this event she emphasized the right to pursue happiness, a democratic economy, and customized welfare services for the Korean people.

The opposing Democratic Party elected Moon Jae-in as its presidential candidate on 17 September. And Ahn announced his presidential bid on 19 September. Although still a leading candidate, in two-way competitions Park had lower approval ratings against Ahn's and against Moon's according to a 22 September national survey. She was elected as the President of the Republic of Korea on 19 December 2012 with the approval of 51.6% of Korean voters.

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Positions In a 2012 survey by Korean Research assessing the political stance of 12 potential presidential candidates of South Korea, Park was considered the most conservative candidate.

Her conservative, market-oriented political stance was well reflected in her campaign pledge for 2008 presidential bid to cut taxes, reduce regulation, and establish strong law and order. Since 2009, however, Park started to focus more on welfare issues, advocating customized welfare services to the South Korean people.

Park is well known for her strict, no-compromise adherence to political promises. In 2010, for example, she successfully stopped the Lee administration's attempt to cancel the plan to establish Sejong City, a new national center of administration, arguing the plan was a promise made to people. This conflict between Park and Lee Administration cost her a considerable decrease in her approval rating at the time. In 2012, Park also vowed to construct a new airport in the southeastern region, a 2008 presidential campaign promise made by GNP but cancelled in 2011, despite claims of economic infeasibility of the plan.

The administrative vision of President Park Geun-hye's new government is "a new era of hope and happiness". The five Administrative Goals of the government are "a jobs-centered creative economy", "tailored employment and welfare", "creativity-oriented education and cultural enrichment", "a safe and united society" and "strong security measures for sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula". The Park Geun-hye administration plans to create a trustworthy, clean, and capable government through carrying out these goals, related strategies, and tasks.

Presidency Inauguration Park became the 18th president of South Korea on 25 February 2013. At midnight, she took over all presidential authorities including the prerogative of supreme command of South Korea's armed forces from her predecessor Lee Myung-bak. In her inauguration speech at the National Assembly building, Park spoke of her plan to open a new era of hope through Page 82 of 93

"economic prosperity, people's happiness, and cultural enrichment". She particularly expressed her hope that North Korea would give up its nuclear arms and walk on the path of peace and mutual development, and declared that the foundation for a happy era of unification in which all Korean people will be able to enjoy prosperity and freedom and realize their dreams would be built through the Korean Peninsula Trust-building Process.

In her inauguration speech, Park presented four guiding principles to realize her administrative vision: economic prosperity, people's happiness, cultural enrichment, and establishment of foundation for peaceful unification. Park's inauguration ceremony was the largest one in South Korean history with 70,000 participants. Diplomatic representatives in Korea as well as high-level delegates specially sent from 24 countries around the world including Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, U.S. National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon, and former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda also participated in the event to congratulate Park.

1st Year (February 2013 – February 2014)

Administrative Philosophy The goal of the newly launched Park Geun-hye Administration for governing state affairs is to open "a new era of hope and happiness for all the people". Park avowed that South Korea will break away from its long-pursued development model that centers around the nation, and shift the focus of government administration from the state to individual citizens.

Through this process the structure of co-prosperity, in which the citizens become happy and as a result the nation develops, will be created. Park's administrative vision and basic principles for governing the nation are concretely outlined in her policy plans for the economy, society, welfare, diplomacy, and unification. The administration's keywords in managing state affairs are "people", "happiness", "trust", "co-prosperity" and "principle".

Government Organization Restructuring Right after taking office, Park restructured the Blue House and government organization to carry out her administrative vision. The Office of National Security at the Blue House, Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries were newly launched, and the seat of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs was revived.

The Chief of the National Security Office would act as a "control tower" for diplomatic, security, and national defense issues, and the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs for economic, social, and welfare issues.

Economic Policy Park announced her plan to build a "Creative Economy" on 5 June 2013, representing her vision for economic revival and job creation.

In April, Park said "Timing is very important for our Economic Policy, jobs and livelihood mainly ordinary people should organize a supplementary budget in a timely manner."

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On 8 April 2014, Park Geun-hye signed the Australia Korea Free Trade Agreement with Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Social Policy Park Geun-hye has proposed as one of the national agenda the eradication of "Four Major Social Evils" (4대 사회악) – sexual violence, domestic violence, school violence and unsafe food. Statistics show that sexual violence and Domestic violence are increasing in these years. Without referring to statistical data, aggravating school violence or food safety is a public concern in South Korea. She also launched the National Unity Committee on 17 June with the purpose to advise the president in the process of resolving various conflicts in South Korean society and establishing a culture of co-existence and co-prosperity. Former Democratic United Party Advisor Han Kwang -ok was named as the head.

National On 18 May 2013, President Park Geun-hye attended the 33rd anniversary of the Gwangju massacre, and gave voice to sorrow for the victims family members.

Approval Ratings Public support for Park's method of governing state affairs reached up to 63%, much higher than the percentage of the votes she had won in the presidential election, which is 51.6%. The Korean media explained that such a high level of support comes from Park's principled North Korea policy, constructive outcome from visits to the United States and China, and distancing away from internal political disputes.

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2nd Year (March 2014 – February 2015 )

Foreign Policy Towards North Korea President Park Geun-hye proposed three steps to North Korea to help move toward the reunification of the Korean Peninsula, on March 28 in Dresden during her state visit to Germany. And marking the Korean Peninsula`s liberation from Japan`s colonial rule Friday(8.15), President Park said, as anguish from the two Koreas` separation passes from one generation to the next, abnormalities on the divided peninsula have become the norm.

The South Korean president then highlighted the urgent need to increase understanding and to help merge the lives of South and North Koreans for reunification. "Starting with jointly managing rivers and forests running through the two Koreas, we need to expand joint projects that benefit both sides. In that respect, I hope North Korea will attend the UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference to be held in South Korean city of Pyeongchang in October." President Park Geun-hye has warned that a new nuclear test by North Korea could lead to, "a nuclear domino effect", that might provide its neighbors with a pretext to arm themselves with nuclear weapons, as she sat down with Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Gerard Baker in Seoul on May 28.

Criticism Parentage Controversy Park had been often criticized for being the "daughter of a dictator Park Chung-hee" and for not actively supporting the Lee administration by supporters of Lee Myung-bak. A nationallevel poll conducted in July 2012 by a conservative newspaper reported that 59.2% of participants responded they did not believe Park was a "daughter of a dictator" while 35.5% agreed with the characterization.

During a recent interview with the Cheongju broadcast station CJB, Park commented regarding her stance that her father's May 16 coup was a "revolution to save the country" by stating, "I don't think it's the place of politicians to be fighting over whether [the events of 1961] were a 'coup d'etat' or a 'revolution'." In a July 2012 survey, 49.9% of respondents answered that they disagreed with Park's assessment that her father's 1961 coup was "unavoidable, the best possible choice, and an advisable decision", as opposed to 37.2% that agreed.

Bu-Il Foundation Accusations Park has faced much scrutiny over an educational foundation, Jeongsoo Scholarship Foundation, formerly known as Buil (in reference to the stock it controls in the newspaper "Busan Ilbo"), which her father, and later, she headed. Its original owners claimed in court they were forced to turn it over to her father.

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Party Criticism A Saenuri Party assemblyman Nam Gyeong-pil criticized the Park-centered nature of the party, regarding its preparation for the 2012 presidential election, and stated, "If we keep seeing the same situation where Park Geun-hye gives a press conference before a general meeting of lawmakers is held, and what she says then gets decided on as the party's position, then the public is going to think democracy has disappeared from the party."

Furthermore, some have said Park's behavior in the lead-up to 2012 presidential election was a mixture of trend-following and corner-cutting—a stark contrast with the vehement insistence on principle that she showed when she opposed a revision of the plan for a multifunctional administrative city in Sejong City. For instance, Yim Tae-hee, another presidential candidate of the party, pointed to Park's voting down of a motion to arrest Chung Doo-un, a law maker implicated with bribery related to saving banks. Another candidate, Ahn Sang-soo, accused Park of "saying one thing yesterday and another today".

Spokesman Scandal Park fired Yoon Chang-jung, a Blue House spokesman who was alleged by Washington police as committing sexual assault against a young woman hired as an intern at the South Korean Embassy in Washington during President Park's first visit to the United States. Park has been criticized for picking the wrong people for senior government posts.

Election-Meddling Scandal Just a week before the presidential election date, the opposing party has alleged that the public servants from National Intelligence Service (NIS) have organized to promote Park's election campaign by way of posting articles favorable to Park and slanderous to the opposing candidates online. This political behavior by public servants is strictly prohibited

by Korean Constitution. To prove their allegation, the opposing Democratic Party, along with the police and Central Election Assistance Commission, swooped in the house where the alleged agent of NIS has resided. From there, the 29-year-old female agent, later known as Ha-Young Kim, who was running an illegal online election campaign operation such as spreading slanderous postings about the opposing candidate had locked herself in. The police could not force to enter the house and the standoff lasted for three days, which provoked a tense political standoff. The opposition accused the intelligence service of blocking an investigation. Park and her party accused the opposition of harassing the woman. Park even said the standoff of the self lock-in was a violation against a female right in the presidential candidate debate that took place three days before the election.

Later that night of the presidential debate, Kim Yong-pan, then the chief of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, publicly announced there was no evidence of illegal online postings from the collected laptop of the female agent. This announcement, which took place three days before the election, was believed to have significantly affected the outcome of the presidential election according to the opposing party. After months of probe Page 86 of 93

into the alleged election meddling, the prosecution concluded in mid-June 2013 that Won Sei-hoon, then NIS chief who headed the intelligence agency for around four years under former President Lee Myung-bak, ordered agents to conduct online smear campaign against opposition presidential candidates. The special investigation drew a conclusion that the agents systemically intervened in domestic politics by writing thousands of postings on politics in cyberspace through hundreds of different user IDs. Kim Yong-pan, then chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA), was prosecuted without physical detention on charges of abusing his authority to hamper police investigation into the case. CCTV conversation between the computer analysts who was analyzing the laptop at police revealed that the police already knew there were illegal online postings against the opposing party's candidates, but the chief of SMPA publicly announced otherwise, which indicates intentional meddling into the presidential election.

The investigation and the trial at court is on-going, and Park faces a political blow.

However, the leading Saenuri party along with government leaders has attempted to dodge its political fall-out. Their effort has involved tipping a rumor to a major conservative media, Chosun Ilbo, about extramarital child of the Chae Dong-wook, former Prosecutor General, who has approved the prosecution of Won Se-hoon and Kim Yong-pan, which eventually led to his resignation. Yoon Suk-ryul, the director of special investigation team, which was leading the probe into the election meddling, was fired and returned to his original position, head of Yeoju branch Supreme Prosecutors Office. The investigation of his team has further revealed that the NIS is suspected of having posted 55,689 messages on Twitter for three months until the presidential election.

Whether or not the election meddling of the NIS by way of online postings or twitters has actually affected the outcome of the presidential election is controversial. However, the false announcement by Kim Yong-pan, then chief of the SMPA, has appeared to do so. Had the police announced honestly, 13.8% of the electorate who voted for Park has answered they would have voted for Moon Jae-In, the first runner-up of the election.

Electoral History National Assembly races (1998 to Present)

1998 15th National Assembly of the Republic of Korea elections, 1998 by-election, Dalseong, Daegu Party Candidate Votes % Grand National Park Geun-hye 28,937 51.5 Democratic Eom Sam-tak 16,355 29.1 Total votes 45,292 100.0 Grand National hold

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2000 16th National Assembly of the Republic of Korea elections, 2000, Dalseong, Daegu Party Candidate Votes % Grand National Park Geun-hye 37,805 61.4 Democratic Eom Sam-tak 23,744 37.8 Total votes 62,738 100.0 Grand National hold

2004 17th National Assembly of the Republic of Korea elections, 2004, Dalseong, Daegu Party Candidate Votes % Grand National Park Geun-hye 45,298 70.0 Uri Yun Yong-hui 15,014 22.9 Democratic Labor Heo Gyeong-do 4,367 6.6 Total votes 65,633 100.0 Grand National hold

2008 18th National Assembly of the Republic of Korea elections, 2008, Dalseong, Daegu Party Candidate Votes % Grand National Park Geun-hye 50,149 88.57 Democratic Labor No Yun-jo 5,080 8.97 PUFP Im Jung-heon 1,386 2.44 Total votes 57,416 100.0 Grand National hold

2012 19th National Assembly of the Republic of Korea elections, 2012, Proportional Representative Party Candidate Votes % Saenuri Park Geun-hye 9,130,651 42.8 Saenuri Hold

Presidential (2012) Summary of the 19 December 2012 South Korean Presidential Election Results

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Candidate

Park Geun-hye

Party

Votes

%

Saenuri Party

15,773,128

51.55

Democratic United Party

14,692,632

48.02

Independent

53,303

0.17

Independent

46,017

0.15

Independent

16,687

0.05

Independent

12,854

0.04

126,838

–

Total

30,721,459

100

Registered voters/turnout

40,507,842

75.84

Moon Jae-in

Kang Ji-won

Kim Soon-ja

Kim So-yeon

Park Jong-sun

Invalid/blank votes

Source: National Election Commission

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