Administrative divisions
9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 7 metropolitan cities (gwangyoksi, singular and plural)
provinces: Cheju-do, Cholla-bukto (North Cholla), Cholla-namdo (South Cholla), Ch'ungch'ong-bukto (North Ch'ungch'ong), Ch'ungch'ong-namdo (South Ch'ungch'ong), Kangwon-do, Kyonggi-do, Kyongsang-bukto (North Kyongsang), Kyongsang-namdo (South Kyongsang)
metropolitan cities: Inch'on-gwangyoksi (Inch'on), Kwangju-gwangyoksi (Kwangju), Pusan-gwangyoksi (Pusan), Soul-t'ukpyolsi (Seoul), Taegu-gwangyoksi (Taegu), Taejon-gwangyoksi (Taejon), Ulsan-gwangyoksi (Ulsan) |
|
Capital city > Geographic coordinates
|
37 33 N, 126 59 E |
|
|
Constitution
17 July 1948; note - amended or rewritten nine times; current constitution approved on 29 October 1987 |
|
Corruption
|
5 |
|
[41st of 160]
|
Diplomatic representation from the US > Mailing address
US Embassy Seoul, APO AP 96205-5550 |
Executive branch > Cabinet
State Council appointed by the president on the prime minister's recommendation |
Executive branch > Chief of state
President LEE Myung-bak (since 25 February 2008) |
Flag description
white with a red (top) and blue yin-yang symbol in the center; there is a different black trigram from the ancient I Ching (Book of Changes) in each corner of the white field |
|
Government type
|
republic |
|
|
Independence
15 August 1945 (from Japan) |
Judicial branch
Supreme Court (justices appointed by the president with consent of National Assembly); Constitutional Court (justices appointed by the president based partly on nominations by National Assembly and Chief Justice of the court) |
Legal system
combines elements of continental European civil law systems, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch
unicameral National Assembly or Kukhoe (299 seats - members elected for four-year terms; 243 in single-seat constituencies, 56 by proportional representation) |
|
Parliamentary seats > Female
|
4% |
|
[119th of 143]
|
Political parties and leaders
Creative Korea Party or CKP [MOON Kook-hyun]; Democratic Labor Party or DLP [CHUN Young-se]; Grand National Party or GNP [PARK Hee-tae]; Liberty Forward Party or LFP [LEE Hoi-chang]; Democratic Party or DP [CHUNG Sye-kyun] (formerly the United Democratic Party or UDP) |
Status
democracy |
Suffrage
19 years of age; universal |
|
Time required to start a business > days
|
22 days
|
|
[126th of 171]
|
|
Trademarks, residents
|
91,935
|
|
[4th of 98]
|
Transnational Issues > Disputes > International
Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic incidents with North Korea in the Yellow Sea over the Northern Limiting Line, which South Korea claims as a maritime boundary; South Korea and Japan claim Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do/Take-shima), occupied by South Korea since 1954 |
del.icio.us
Feeds |
Contact