REPUBLIC OF KOREA

• Official name: Taehan-min'guk (Republic of Korea) (The Korean word for "Korea" is Han-guk)
• Location: North Asia
• Borders: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
• International organisations: Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum, Group of Twenty, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations, World Trade Organisation
• Coastline: Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea
• Land area: 98,480 Km2
• Population: 48,400,000
• Annual GDP (PPP) per capita: US$28,000 (2009 CIA estimate). World ranking: 36
• Ethnicity: Almost the entire population is of Korean stock.
• Languages: Korean is the national and universal language.
• Religion: Christian 49%, Buddhist 47%, Confucianist 3%
• Form of government: Presidential democratic republic. The Republic is divided into nine provinces and seven metropolitan cities.
• Capital: Seoul
• Constitution: The new Korean Constitution came into effect on 25 February 1988.
• Head of state: The President, elected for a five-year term by direct universal suffrage. The Constitution makes the President the effective head of the government.
• Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President and accountable to him.
• Legislature: The Republic of Korea has a unicameral legislature, the National Assembly (Kuk Hoe), which has 273 members, elected for four-year terms. Of these, 227 members are elected from single-seat constituencies and 46 members by proportional representation.
• Electoral authority: The National Election Commission of the Republic of Korea conducts elections. Its slogan is "Judge wisely and choose precisely, or a bright future will not be reserved for you."
• Freedom House 2011 rating: Political Rights 1, Civil Liberties 2
• Transparency International Corruption Index: 54% (39 of 178 countries rated)
• Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom 2010 Index: 86.7% (42 of 178 countries rated)
• Heritage Foundation Economic Freedom 2010 Index: 69.8% (35 of 179 countries rated)

Political history

The ancient but enfeebled Korean monarchy succumbed to Japanese expanionism in 1910, and Korea spent 35 years under Japanese occupation, which is still bitterly resented. In 1945 the Soviet Union occupied the northern half of the peninsula and the United States the southern half. Each set up governments of their ideological persuasion. The southern government was led by the veteran nationalist Lee Seung-Man (known in the west as Syngman Rhee).

In 1950 the North Koreans launched a sudden military attack on the South. Three years of warfare followed, before United Nations forces stablised the situation along the present border and a cease-fire was agreed on. There has never been a permanent settlement and United States forces are still stationed along the border. Lee's regime was autocratic and oppressive, but reasonably free elections were held in the later 1950s.

In 1961 Lee was forced to retire and an army general, Park Jung-Hee, took office. From 1963 to 1971 Park ruled as an elected president, but in 1971 he declared himself "President for life" and thereafter ruled as a dictator. Following his assassination in 1979, there was a brief period of civilian rule, followed by another coup led by General Chun Doo-hwan. This coup was accompanied by a massacre of civilians in the southern city of Kwangju.

Chun ruled as a dictator until 1987, when he was succeeded by General Roh Tae-woo. Under domestic and international pressure, Roh agreed to allow free presidential elections in December 1987. Since then South Korea has been a stable and increasingly prosperous democracy, though overshadowed by fear of the isolationist and impoverished Communist regime in the North.

The veteran dissident leader Kim Dae-Jung was elected President in 1997. In 2003 he was succeeded by another member of his United Democratic Party (UDP), Roh Moo-hyun. The UDP is a liberal party which favours negotiations with the North and a gradual withdrawal of American forces from Korea. The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) is more conservative and favours a tough line with the North.

The failure of Kim and Roh's diplomatic overtures to North Korea, and the increasing corruption of Roh's term (after leaving office he committed suicide), led to a waning of support for the UNDP and the victory of the GNP's Lee Myun-Bak at the 2007 presidential elections. Since the 2008 legislative elections the GNP has also had a large majority in the National Assembly.

Freedom House's 2011 report on South Korea says: "South Korea is an electoral democracy. Elections are free and fair... Political pluralism is robust, with multiple parties competing for power... Despite the overall health of the political system, bribery, influence peddling, and extortion have not been eradicated from politics, business, and everyday life... The news media are free and competitive. Newspapers are privately owned and report fairly aggressively on government policies and alleged official and corporate wrongdoing... South Korea respects freedom of assembly, and the Law on Assembly and Demonstrations requires only that the police be informed in advance of all demonstrations... South Korea's judiciary is generally considered to be independent. There is no trial by jury; judges render verdicts in all cases."

Updated November 2011