South Korea
Name
| Official name | Republic of Korea — Daehan Minguk (대한민국, 大韓民國) in Korean; Korea, South Korea, the ROK the short forms; "Hanguk" (한국) in the South's own usage, "Namhan" ("South Han") in inter-Korean usage, "Namjoseon" ("South Joseon") in the North's; "Korea, Republic of" in the UN list, "Corée du Sud," "Corea del Sur," "Südkorea" abroad |
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| Former names | Gojoseon, of Dangun's legend of 2333 BC and of the historical kingdom the Han Chinese conquered in 108 BC; the Three Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla (the traditional dates 37, 18 and 57 BC to 660–668) and Unified Silla to 935, with Balhae in the north; Goryeo (918–1392), the name the West took for "Korea"; Joseon (1392–1897), the kingdom of the Yi dynasty; the Korean Empire, Daehan Jeguk (13 October 1897 to 29 August 1910); Chōsen, the colony of the Empire of Japan (1910–45); the United States Army Military Government in Korea (9 September 1945 to 15 August 1948) south of the 38th parallel; the Republic of Korea since 15 August 1948 — the First to the Sixth Republics of the constitutions of 1948, 1960, 1962, 1972, 1980 and 1987 |
| Demonym | South Korean; Korean — Hanguk-in (한국인) or Hanguk saram in the South; "Joseon saram" the North's word; "Koreans" for the whole people of 80 million and the diaspora |
| Meaning of the name | "Korea" from Goryeo (고려, 高麗), the kingdom of 918 to 1392, itself a shortening of Goguryeo, "high and beautiful" by one reading of the characters — "Cauli" in Marco Polo, "Corea" in the Portuguese and Spanish of the 1500s, "Korea" the English spelling that won out in the 1800s; "Daehan Minguk" — "Han" (韓) from the Samhan, the three confederacies of Mahan, Jinhan and Byeonhan of the south of the peninsula in the centuries around the turn of the era; "Daehan," "Great Han," the name the Korean Empire took on 13 October 1897 in place of Joseon; "Minguk," "people's state," the republic, chosen by the Provisional Government of 11 April 1919 in Shanghai and kept by the Constitution of 1948; Joseon (朝鮮), "morning calm" or "morning freshness" by the usual reading, the name of the kingdom of 1392 that the North keeps; "the Land of the Morning Calm," the Western epithet from Percival Lowell's book of 1885; "the Hermit Kingdom" of the 1800s; "the Miracle on the Han River" of the 1960s to 1990s |
| Motto | None by law; "Hongik Ingan" (홍익인간, 弘益人間), "to broadly benefit humanity," the founding ideal of Dangun's Gojoseon in the Samguk Yusa of the 1280s, the educational ideal of the Framework Act on Education since 1949 and the phrase the encyclopedias give as the national motto |
Quick facts
| Capital | Seoul (서울) — the special city on the Han River, the capital since Joseon's Hanyang of 28 October 1394; about 9.3 million in the city and about 26.4 million (50.9% of the nation by the census of 2025) in the capital region with Incheon and Gyeonggi; the presidential office back at Cheong Wa Dae, the "Blue House," since 29 December 2025 after 1,330 days at Yongsan; the National Assembly on Yeouido; Sejong, the special self-governing city 120 km south, the administrative capital since 2012 with most of the ministries and the Government Complex, the Constitutional Court's ruling of 21 October 2004 having kept the capital itself in Seoul |
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| Largest cities | Seoul, about 9.3 million (10 million from 1988 to 2016); Busan, about 3.2 million, the port and the second city; Incheon, about 3.0 million, the airport city; Daegu, about 2.3 million; Daejeon, about 1.4 million; Gwangju, about 1.4 million, since 1 July 2026 the core of Jeonnam-Gwangju; Suwon, about 1.2 million; Ulsan, about 1.1 million; Yongin, Goyang, Changwon, Seongnam, Hwaseong, Cheongju, Bucheon, Namyangju, Jeonju, Cheonan, Ansan, Anyang, Gimhae, Pyeongtaek, Pohang, Jeju City — by the resident registers of 2025–26 |
| Official language | Korean (한국어, Hangugeo) — the language of 99% of the nation, written in Hangul, the alphabet King Sejong promulgated on 9 October 1446 (the Hunminjeongeum, "the correct sounds for the instruction of the people"), 24 letters of 14 consonants and 10 vowels, Hangul Day the holiday; the Seoul standard (pyojuneo) of the National Institute of Korean Language; Korean Sign Language official by the Act of 2016; the dialects of Gyeongsang, Jeolla, Chungcheong and Gangwon and the Jeju language UNESCO lists as critically endangered; Hanja, the Chinese characters, in names and scholarship; English the first foreign language of the schools from the third grade; Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Russian among the 2.1 million foreign residents |
| Currency | Won — KRW, ₩; 100 jeon, never coined; the Bank of Korea of 12 June 1950; the won of 10 June 1962 (100 hwan to the won) after the hwan of 1953 and the first won of 1945; notes of ₩1,000 (Yi Hwang), ₩5,000 (Yi I), ₩10,000 (King Sejong) and ₩50,000 (Shin Saimdang, 2009), coins of ₩10 to ₩500; about 1,360 to the U.S. dollar in late September 2026 (1,411.8 on 18 August, 1,336.1 on 9 September, 1,358.2 on 22 September by the Seoul close); the base rate 3.00% since 27 August 2026; a floating currency, still not convertible offshore, the point MSCI held against it on 24 June 2026 |
| Time zone | Korea Standard Time, UTC+9; no summer time (last kept in 1987–88 for the Olympics); the North on the same hour again since 5 May 2018 |
| Calling code | +82 |
| Internet domain | .kr; .한국 |
| ISO 3166 codes | KR · KOR · 410 |
| Vehicle registration code | ROK |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 220 V, 60 Hz; plug types C and F |
| Independence | 15 August 1945, the liberation from Japan (Gwangbokjeol) with the surrender that ended the 35 years of the annexation of 29 August 1910; 15 August 1948, the Republic of Korea proclaimed under President Syngman Rhee after the election of 10 May 1948 and the Constitution of 17 July 1948; 1 March 1919, the March First Movement, and 11 April 1919, the Provisional Government of Shanghai, both in the Constitution's preamble as the republic's legitimacy; 12 December 1948, UN General Assembly Resolution 195 that recognized the government; 17 September 1991, the United Nations, with the North; 3 October, the National Foundation Day of Dangun's year 2333 BC |
| National days | 15 August, Liberation Day (Gwangbokjeol); 1 March, Independence Movement Day (Samiljeol); 3 October, National Foundation Day (Gaecheonjeol); 9 October, Hangul Day; 6 June, Memorial Day; 17 July, Constitution Day (a national day, not a holiday since 2008); 1 January; Seollal, the Lunar New Year, three days (16–18 February 2026); Chuseok, the harvest moon, three days (around 25 September in 2026); Buddha's Birthday (24 May 2026); Children's Day, 5 May; Christmas, 25 December; the substitute holidays of the law of 2021; the election days of the republic public holidays too (3 June 2026) |
| Constitution | The Constitution of the Sixth Republic — adopted by the National Assembly on 12 October 1987, approved by referendum on 27 October 1987 (93.1%), promulgated 29 October 1987 and in force from 25 February 1988, the ninth revision of the Constitution of 17 July 1948 and the prize of the June Democratic Struggle of 1987 against Chun Doo-hwan: a president directly elected for a single five-year term, a Prime Minister named with the Assembly's consent, a unicameral National Assembly of four-year terms, the Constitutional Court of nine, the Supreme Court, the freedoms of the press, assembly and labor, the Article 3 that claims the whole peninsula and the Article 4 that pledges peaceful unification, 130 articles; unamended since; President Lee's proposal of 16 August 2026 of a four-year, twice-elected presidency and the Democratic Party's task force of 20 September 2026 under Kim Tae-nyeon that aims at a referendum by mid-2027, with Lee's "I absolutely have no intention to seek a second term" of 19 September 2026 and the People Power Party's refusal of any revision in his term (LAW 2) |
| Population | 51.82 million at the register-based census of 1 November 2025 (the Ministry of Data and Statistics, 28 July 2026), up 0.02% on 2024 on immigration alone — 49.71 million Korean nationals and 2.11 million foreign residents (4.1%, a record); 51,106,229 by the register estimate of 2026 the encyclopedias carry; 51,829,136 at the census of 2020, the peak; the natural decrease of about 100,000 a year (254,300 births against about 360,000 deaths in 2025); 20.7% aged 65 and over, the "super-aged" society since December 2024 |
| Area | 100,472 km² (38,792 sq mi), 0.3% water — the 107th of the world, the southern 45% of the peninsula below the Military Demarcation Line; about 3,400 islands (3,579 by the count the encyclopedias carry), Jeju of 1,849 km² the largest, Geoje, Jindo, Ganghwa, Ulleungdo; Dokdo (the Liancourt Rocks) in the East Sea, held since 1954 and claimed by Japan; the exclusive economic zone of about 300,000 km²; the whole peninsula 220,847 km² |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | A white field with the red-and-blue taegeuk at the center, the circle of yin and yang, and four black trigrams at the corners — geon (☰, heaven) at the upper hoist, gon (☷, earth) at the lower fly, gam (☵, water) at the upper fly and ri (☲, fire) at the lower hoist — in the proportion 2:3; the white for the land, for peace and for the "white-clad people," the taegeuk for the harmony of the universe, the trigrams for the seasons, the directions and the virtues; first raised by Park Yeong-hyo on the voyage to Japan of September 1882, proclaimed the national flag of Joseon by King Gojong on 27 January 1883 by the lunar calendar (6 March by the solar), the flag of the March First Movement of 1919 and of the Provisional Government, adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 12 July 1948, standardized on 15 October 1949, its colors fixed by the decree of 15 October 1997 (the red Pantone 186 C, the blue 294 C) and the National Flag Act of 2007; "Taegukgi" (태극기), the flag of the "Supreme Ultimate."Flag of South Korea |
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| Coat of arms | The national emblem (nara munjang) of 10 December 1963 — the taegeuk within five petals of the mugunghwa, the rose of Sharon, on a ribbon lettered "Daehan Minguk" in Hangul; on the passports, the medals and the ministries' seals; the Government Emblem of the taegeuk of 2016 on the letterheads; the Great Seal of State (Guksae), the fifth of 2011, of gold with the twin phoenixes and the mugunghwa on its handle; the presidential standard of the twin phoenixes and the mugunghwa on blue |
| National anthem | "Aegukga" (애국가), "The Patriotic Song" — the words of about 1896 to 1907, the author unknown (Yun Chi-ho and An Chang-ho the two the scholars weigh), sung to "Auld Lang Syne" until Ahn Eak-tai's melody of 1935, taken up by the Provisional Government in exile and adopted by the Republic on 15 August 1948, never written into law; the four verses of the East Sea and Baekdusan, the pine of Namsan, the autumn sky and the moon, and the refrain of the "three thousand ri of splendid rivers and mountains, dotted with the mugunghwa" |
| National motto | None; "Hongik Ingan," "benefit all humanity," on the encyclopedias' lists and in the Framework Act on Education |
| National colors | White, red and blue, with the black of the trigrams — the "obangsaek" of the five directions (blue, white, red, black, yellow) in the tradition; the "white-clad people" (baegui minjok) of the white hanbok |
| National animal | The tiger, by custom — the Siberian tiger of the folk tales and of the peninsula's shape, the Hodori of the Seoul Olympics of 1988 and the Soohorang of PyeongChang 2018; the magpie the national bird by custom; none designated by law |
| National flower | Mugunghwa (무궁화), the rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus, the "flower of eternity" — in the anthem's refrain, on the emblem and the seals, the medals and the Assembly's badge; by custom since the Korean Empire, never by statute |
| National tree | The pine (Pinus densiflora, the red pine of Namsan in the anthem), by custom; the ginkgo of the palaces and the avenues; the Korean fir of Hallasan |
| National dish | Kimchi, the fermented cabbage of the kimjang of UNESCO's list of 2013, with bibimbap, bulgogi, tteokbokki, samgyetang, the jang pastes of the listing of 3 December 2024; soju the drink, makgeolli the older one — widely cited, none designated |
| National sport | Taekwondo, written into the Taekwondo Promotion Act as the national sport by the amendment of 2018; ssireum, the wrestling of the joint UNESCO listing of 2018 with the North; baseball (the KBO of 1982, over 12 million spectators in 2025) and football the most followed; archery the Olympic gold mine |
| Heritage listings | UNESCO World Heritage ×17 — Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple, the Haeinsa depositories of the Tripitaka Koreana and Jongmyo Shrine (1995); Changdeokgung and Hwaseong Fortress (1997); the Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa dolmens and the Gyeongju Historic Areas (2000); Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes (2007); the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty (2009); Hahoe and Yangdong villages (2010); Namhansanseong (2014); the Baekje Historic Areas (2015); Sansa, the mountain monasteries (2018); the Seowon academies (2019); the Getbol tidal flats (2021); the Gaya Tumuli (2023); the Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream of Ulsan (12 July 2025), 15 cultural and 2 natural; the Intangible Cultural Heritage ×23 from the Jongmyo rite, pansori and the Gangneung Danoje of 2008 through arirang (2012), kimjang (2013), the haenyeo (2016), ssireum (2018), talchum (2022) to jang-making (2024); the Memory of the World ×20 from the Hunminjeongeum and the Joseon Annals of 1997 to the Forest Rehabilitation records and the Jeju 4·3 archives of 2025 |
| Symbol status | The flag by the National Flag Act of 2007, the anthem by custom without a law, the emblem by the decree of 1963, the flower, the tree, the bird and the animal by custom; the holidays by the Act on Public Holidays; the symbols kept by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety |
Geography
| Location | East Asia — the southern half of the Korean Peninsula between the Yellow (West) Sea and the East Sea (Sea of Japan), the Korea Strait to Japan 200 km wide at the narrowest (50 km to Tsushima); 33° to 38.6° N, 124° to 132° E; Seoul at 37°34′ N, 126°58′ E, 50 km from the DMZ; China 400 km across the Yellow Sea |
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| Land borders | One — the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), 238 km by the encyclopedias' figure, along the Military Demarcation Line of the Armistice of 27 July 1953 inside the Demilitarized Zone of 250 km by 4 km, the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom; the explosion of 21 September 2026 in the western sector that wounded three South Korean officers, a mine by the first findings, under investigation by the military and the UN Command; the maritime lines with Japan and China unsettled in parts, the Northern Limit Line of the Yellow Sea contested by the North |
| Coastline | 2,413 km by the Factbook — the ria coast of the southwest and its thousands of islands, the straight east coast of the Taebaek range, the mudflats of the west; many times that with the islands by the ministry's counts |
| Highest point | Hallasan, 1,947 m (6,388 ft), the shield volcano of Jeju with the crater lake Baengnokdam — 1,950 m by the older figure the encyclopedias keep, 1,947.06 m by the survey of 2016 (both ways); Jirisan, 1,915 m, the highest of the mainland; Seoraksan 1,708 m; Deogyusan 1,614 m; Taebaeksan 1,567 m; Bukhansan 836 m above Seoul; Baekdusan of 2,744 m, the peninsula's highest, on the North's border with China |
| Lowest point | Sea level; the reclaimed land of Saemangeum below it behind the seawall of 33.9 km of 2010, the longest of the world |
| Mean elevation | About 282 m; about 70% of the land mountain, a fifth arable |
| Rivers | The Nakdong, 510 km (521 by some counts), the longest, from the Taebaek range to Busan; the Han, 494 km (514), through Seoul, of the "Miracle on the Han," its Bukhan and Namhan branches meeting at Yangsu-ri; the Geum, 397–401 km, to the Yellow Sea by Gunsan; the Seomjin, 224 km; the Yeongsan, 138 km; the Imjin, 254 km, from the North to the Han estuary; the four-rivers project of 2009–12 and its 16 weirs; the Nakdong the water of Busan and Daegu |
| Lakes | Soyang, the largest reservoir, about 70 km² behind the dam of 1973 in Gangwon; Chungju, Daecheong, Andong, Hapcheon, Juam, Imha; Paldang of Seoul's water; Baengnokdam, the crater lake of Hallasan; Sihwa, the tidal lake of the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station of 2011, the largest of the world at 254 MW; the Uponeup wetland of Changnyeong; the crater lake of Baekdusan (Cheonji) beyond the border |
| Terrain | Mountains over about 70% — the Taebaek range down the east coast, the Sobaek across the south to Jirisan, the Baekdudaegan "spine" that runs from Baekdusan to Jirisan; the plains of the west and south along the Han, Geum, Nakdong and Yeongsan; the ria coast and the islands of the southwest; the volcanic Jeju, Ulleungdo and Dokdo; the reclaimed flats of Saemangeum and Sihwa; the granite peaks of Bukhansan and Seoraksan |
| Climate | Humid continental in the north and inland, humid subtropical in the south and on Jeju (Köppen Dwa and Cwa), four sharp seasons — the Siberian winters of the northwest monsoon (Seoul January about −2 °C, the Han freezing), the jangma rains of late June to July, the hot wet summers (Seoul August about 26 °C), the typhoons of August–September, the clear autumns; the records 41.0 °C at Hongcheon on 1 August 2018 and −32.6 °C at Yangpyeong on 5 January 1981; Seoul about 1,400 mm of rain a year, most of it in summer; the yellow dust of spring from the Gobi and the fine dust of winter |
| Natural hazards | Typhoons (Sarah 1959, Rusa 2002, Maemi 2003, Hinnamnor 2022); the monsoon floods (Seoul, 8 August 2022; the Osong underpass of 15 July 2023); the wildfires of March 2025 in Uiseong and the southeast, the worst on record, about 30 dead and 100,000 hectares; earthquakes (Gyeongju, 12 September 2016, magnitude 5.8; Pohang, 15 November 2017, 5.4); heat waves (2018, 2024); the fine dust; the disasters of the year — the Daejeon car-parts factory fire of 20 March 2026 (14 dead), the Hanwha Aerospace explosion of 1 June 2026 (5 dead), the Seodaemun overpass collapse of 26 May 2026 (3 dead); the Sewol of 16 April 2014 (304), the Itaewon crowd crush of 29 October 2022 (159), Jeju Air Flight 2216 at Muan on 29 December 2024 (179), the deadliest air crash on Korean soil, its inquiry still open |
| Natural resources | Coal (the anthracite of Taebaek, the mines closing), tungsten (Sangdong reopening), graphite, molybdenum, lead, zinc, limestone, kaolin; hydropower; no oil or gas of note — the Donghae gas field of 2004–21 off Ulsan, the "Blue Whale" drilling off Pohang of 2024–25 that found nothing, the audit of 2026 that found Yoon had promoted it despite the uncertainties; the fisheries; over 90% of the energy imported |
| Land use | Forest about 64%, arable about 15% (the rice paddies of about 700,000 hectares), the cities and the roads the rest; rice self-sufficient, grain about 20%; the greenbelt of Seoul since 1971; the farms averaging 1.5 hectares; the Saemaul villages of 1970 |
| National parks | 23 national parks — 18 of the mountains (Jirisan the first, 29 December 1967; Seoraksan, Bukhansan the most visited, Hallasan, Sobaeksan, Songnisan, Naejangsan, Odaesan, Chiaksan, Woraksan, Deogyusan, Juwangsan, Gyeryongsan, Gayasan, Mudeungsan, Taebaeksan, Wolchulsan and Palgongsan), four of the sea and coast (Hallyeohaesang, Dadohaehaesang the largest, Taeanhaean, Byeonsanbando) and one of history (Gyeongju); Palgongsan the 23rd, 31 December 2023; the Korea National Park Service; the DMZ's accidental wilderness of the cranes; the Asiatic black bears restored to Jirisan since 2004 |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 17 sites, 15 cultural and 2 natural — Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes (2007) and the Getbol tidal flats of Seocheon, Gochang, Shinan, Boseong and Suncheon (2021) the natural; the Bangucheon petroglyphs of 2025 the newest; the World Heritage Committee sat in Busan in July 2026; the biosphere reserves of Seoraksan, Jeju, Shinan Dadohae, Gwangneung, Gochang, Suncheon, Yeoncheon, Gangwon Eco-Peace and Wando; the global geoparks of Jeju (2010), Cheongsong, Mudeungsan, Hantangang and the Jeonbuk West Coast |
| Administrative divisions | 16 first-tier divisions since 1 July 2026 — Seoul Special City; Sejong Special Self-Governing City; Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City (the merger of Gwangju and South Jeolla of 1 July 2026, 12,363 km², about 3.2 million, Mayor Min Hyung-bae); the five metropolitan cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Daejeon and Ulsan; the provinces of Gyeonggi, North and South Chungcheong, North and South Gyeongsang; the special self-governing provinces of Jeju (2006), Gangwon (11 June 2023) and North Jeolla (18 January 2024); 227 cities, counties and districts (si, gun, gu) below them whose heads were elected on 3 June 2026 (the Democratic Party 119, the People Power Party 95, 11 independents), 933 provincial and 3,034 municipal councillors, 16 education superintendents; the governors and mayors of 2026 — Oh Se-hoon (People Power) in Seoul for a fifth term, Chun Jae-soo (Democratic) in Busan, Choo Kyung-ho (People Power) in Daegu, Park Chan-dae in Incheon, Choo Mi-ae in Gyeonggi, Lee Cheol-woo in North Gyeongsang, Park Wan-su in South Gyeongsang, Wi Seong-gon in Jeju |
People
| Population | 51.82 million (the census of 1 November 2025) — 49.71 million nationals and 2.11 million foreign residents; 26.38 million (50.9%) in the capital region; 23.25 million households, a third of them of one person |
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| Population density | About 516 per km² (2025) — among the densest countries of over 10 million people, the densest of the OECD; Seoul about 15,400 per km², Gangwon about 90 |
| Population growth | About zero — +0.02% in 2025 on immigration; deaths have exceeded births since 2020, the peak year of 51.84 million; the medium projection of the statistics ministry to about 36 million by 2072; the foreign share rising toward 5% |
| Median age | 46.8 years (2025), among the oldest of the world; 20.7% aged 65 and over, about 11% under 15; the "super-aged" 20% reached on 23 December 2024, 24 years after the "aged" 7% of 2000, the fastest transition recorded |
| Life expectancy | 83.7 years at birth (2024, the statistics ministry's life tables of 3 December 2025) — men 80.8, women 86.6, the women third in the OECD; 62 years in 1970 |
| Fertility rate | 0.80 (2025) — the lowest of any country, up from the record low of 0.72 of 2023 and 0.75 of 2024, the second rise running after nine years of falls; 254,300 births in 2025 (+6.7%, the most since 2010's rises), the mother's mean age 33.8, the first birth at 33.2; Seoul 0.58 (2024); 6.0 in 1960, 1.57 in 1990, 1.08 in 2005; the marriages up in 2024–25 |
| Urban population | About 81–82% — the capital region of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi 26.4 million, 50.9%, more than half the nation on 12% of the land; the new towns of Bundang, Ilsan, Dongtan, Pangyo; the provinces emptying, most rural counties at "risk of extinction" by the government's index |
| Adult literacy | About 99% by the usual measure; Hangul learned in a week by the saying; the mean schooling of 12.5 years; the highest tertiary attainment of the OECD, about 70% of 25-to-34-year-olds |
| Ethnic groups | Korean 95.9% by nationality (2025) — one of the most homogeneous of nations; foreign residents 4.1% (2.11 million; 2.65 million with the short-term by the Justice Ministry's count of December 2024): Chinese about 960,000, most of them the ethnic-Korean Joseonjok of Yanbian, Vietnamese 306,000, Thai 189,000, Americans 170,000, Uzbeks, Nepalis, Filipinos, Indonesians, Cambodians, Russians and Kazakhs (many of them Koryo-saram); the marriage migrants of the 2000s and their "multicultural" families; about 34,000 North Korean defectors settled since 1998; the E-9 workers of the farms, the shipyards and the factories |
| Languages | Korean of all; English in the schools from the third grade and in the trade; the dialects of Gyeongsang (Busan, Daegu), Jeolla, Chungcheong and Gangwon; the Jeju language, critically endangered; Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Russian of the migrants; Korean Sign Language official since 2016 |
| Religion | By the census of 2015 — no religion 56.1%, Protestant 19.7%, Buddhist 15.5%, Catholic 7.9%, other 0.8% (Won Buddhism, Confucianism, Cheondoism); the surveys of 2024–25 the encyclopedias carry — no religion about 51%, Christian 31% (Protestant 20%, Catholic 11%), Buddhist 17% (both stated); the Confucian order of the rites and the family; the shamanism of the mudang; the Buddhism of Silla's Bulguksa and the Jogye Order; the Catholic Church founded by Yi Seung-hun in 1784 with the 103 martyrs canonized in 1984 and the 124 beatified in 2014; the Protestant missions of 1884 and the megachurches of Seoul (Yoido Full Gospel, the largest congregation of the world); the Unification Church of 1954 and the bribery case of 2026; Shincheonji, whose founder was arrested on 24 June 2026; Buddha's Birthday and Christmas both holidays |
| Human Development Index | 0.937 (2023), "very high," 20th of the world (UNDP's report of 2025); the leap from the aid recipient of 1960 to the donor of 2010 |
| Housing and living | Apartments the home of about 64% of households, the "apart" towers of the new towns; home ownership about 56%; the jeonse deposits and the monthly wolse; the Seoul apartment prices at records in 2026 with household credit past ₩1,900 trillion, the property tax the quarrel that cost the policy chief his post on 1 September 2026; the Gini of about 0.32 on disposable income, the elderly poverty of about 39%, the highest of the OECD, and the suicide rate the OECD's highest; the National Health Insurance of 1989 for all; the "hell Joseon" of the young and the "N-po" generation; the world's longest hours of the OECD's middle since the 52-hour week of 2018; the delivery culture, the PC bang, the jjimjilbang, the convenience stores of every corner |
| Learning and letters | Schooling of 6-3-3-4, the Suneung of November (the exam day of the delayed flights and the police escorts), over 70% of school-leavers to university, the highest of the OECD; Seoul National, Korea and Yonsei ("SKY"), KAIST, POSTECH; PISA 2022 among the top in mathematics; the two Nobels — Kim Dae-jung (Peace, 2000) and Han Kang (Literature, 10 October 2024, the first Asian woman and the first Korean); Hwang Sok-yong, Kim Young-ha, Shin Kyung-sook; the Joseon Annals and Jikji of 1377, the oldest extant book of movable metal type; hallyu — BTS, Blackpink, the Parasite of the four Oscars of 9 February 2020, Squid Game (2021), "KPop Demon Hunters" (2025); the webtoons of Naver and Kakao; the cinema of Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook |
| Sport | Football — the World Cup semifinal of 2002 as co-host with Japan, eleven straight World Cups from 1986 to 2026 (out in the group of 2026 after Czechia 2–1, Mexico 0–1 and South Africa 0–1, Hong Myung-bo resigned in July 2026), Son Heung-min, Cha Bum-kun, Park Ji-sung, Kim Min-jae; the Olympics of Seoul 1988 and PyeongChang 2018, the Asian Games of 1986, 2002 and 2014; Paris 2024: 13 golds and 32 medals, eighth; Milano Cortina 2026: 3 golds, 4 silvers and 3 bronzes, 13th (Kim Gil-li and the women's short-track relay, Choi Ga-on's halfpipe); the Asian Games of Aichi–Nagoya of 19 September to 4 October 2026 under way; archery (the women's team ten Olympic golds in a row, 1988–2024), taekwondo, fencing, shooting, golf (Pak Se-ri, Park In-bee), baseball (the KBO of 1982), esports (Faker), the K League of 1983 |
| Diaspora | About 7.08 million overseas Koreans (the foreign ministry, 2023) — the United States about 2.6 million (Los Angeles, New York), China about 2.1 million (the Joseonjok of Yanbian), Japan about 800,000 (the Zainichi), Canada about 290,000, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan the Koryo-saram of the deportation of 1937 (about 500,000), Vietnam, Australia, Germany (the miners and nurses of the 1960s), Brazil, the Philippines; the adoptees, about 200,000 sent abroad since 1953, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's findings of 2025–26 on the adoptions; the Overseas Koreans Agency of 2023; the "Korean-Americans" of Congress |
Government
| Form of government | A unitary presidential republic under the Constitution of 1987, the Sixth Republic — the President, directly elected for a single five-year term, head of state and of government and commander in chief, with a Prime Minister named with the Assembly's consent and a State Council; the National Assembly of 300, elected for four years; the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court; 16 first-tier local governments with elected heads and councils every four years; universal suffrage at 18 since 2020 |
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| President | Lee Jae-myung (이재명, Democratic Party), since 4 June 2025 — elected 3 June 2025 in the snap election after Yoon Suk Yeol's removal with 49.42% (17.29 million votes) against Kim Moon-soo (People Power, 41.15%) and Lee Jun-seok (Reform, 8.34%) on a turnout of 79.4%, the highest since 1997; the factory boy of Seongnam turned human-rights lawyer, mayor of Seongnam 2010–18, governor of Gyeonggi 2018–21, the loser of 2022 by 0.73 of a point, stabbed in the neck in Busan on 2 January 2024; the office back at Cheong Wa Dae since 29 December 2025; approval 37% and disapproval 56% by Gallup Korea of 16–18 September 2026, the low of his term, on real estate and appointments; "I absolutely have no intention to seek a second term," 19 September 2026; his term runs to 3 June 2030 |
| Prime Minister | Han Seong-sook (한성숙), since 1 July 2026 — the former chief executive of Naver (2017–21), minister of SMEs and startups from 23 July 2025, nominated 7 June 2026 after Kim Min-seok resigned to run for the Democratic Party's chair, confirmed 30 June 2026 by 166 votes with the People Power Party boycotting; the second woman in the post after Han Myeong-sook (2006–07) and the first from business; Kim Min-seok Prime Minister from July 2025 (confirmed 3 July by 173 to 3) to 30 June 2026; Han Duck-soo (2022–25), twice acting president in the martial law winter, in prison for 15 years on appeal |
| Cabinet | The State Council as of 27 September 2026 — Lee Hyoung-il, deputy prime minister and minister of finance and economy (appointed 22 September 2026 in place of Koo Yun-cheol); Bae Kyung-hoon, deputy prime minister for science and ICT; Park Hong-keun, planning and budget (the ministry re-created 2 January 2026); Cho Hyun, foreign affairs; Chung Dong-young, unification; Kang Shin-chul, national defense (22 September 2026, the retired four-star general who followed Ahn Gyu-back, the first civilian in the post since 1961); Yun Ho-jung, interior and safety; Kim Jung-kwan, trade, industry and resources; Kim Sung-hwan, climate, energy and environment; Kim Young-hoon, employment and labor; Jeong Eun-kyeong, health and welfare; Choi Kyo-jin, education; Chae Hwi-young, culture, sports and tourism; Song Mi-ryung, agriculture, food and rural affairs; Hong Jee-sun, land, infrastructure and transport (22 September 2026); Hwang Jong-woo, oceans and fisheries (the ministry moved to Busan in December 2025); Lee So-young, SMEs and startups (22 September 2026); Won Min-kyong, gender equality and family; Kwon Oh-eul, patriots and veterans; the justice ministry vacant since Jung Sung-ho's resignation of 24 August 2026 (the nominee Kim Seung-won withdrew on 19 September; the gender nominee Yong Hye-in on 13 September, over her Assembly seat); Lee Jong-seok directs the National Intelligence Service; Kang Hoon-sik chief of staff (his resignation offered 21 September 2026), Wi Sung-lac national security adviser, the policy chief's post empty since Kim Yong-beom left on 1 September 2026 over the leveraged ETFs and the property tax; the reshuffle of 30 August 2026 the President's "year-two reset" |
| The last elections | Presidential, 3 June 2025 (above); legislative, 10 April 2024, the 22nd Assembly — the Democratic Party and its list 175 of 300, the People Power Party and its list 108, the Rebuilding Korea Party 12, the Reform Party 3, the New Future 1, the Progressive Party 1, on a turnout of 67.0%, the highest for an Assembly since 1992; local, 3 June 2026, turnout 61.0% (up 10 points) — the Democratic Party 12 of the 16 metropolitan mayors and governors (up 7), 119 of the 227 municipal heads, 589 of the 933 provincial councillors, the People Power Party 4 heads (Seoul, Daegu, North and South Gyeongsang), the ballots that ran out in 91 districts and kept the polls open to 10 p.m., the election commission's chair Rho Tae-ak resigning on 5 June; the by-elections of the same day — the Democratic Party 9 of the 14 seats, the People Power Party 4 and Han Dong-hoon, its expelled former chair, as an independent in Busan's Buk-A; Cho Kuk third in Pyeongtaek-B |
| Parliament | The National Assembly (Gukhoe) of 300 — 254 by constituency and 46 by proportional list under the mixed system of 2020 that bred the satellite parties — for four years, in the building of 1975 on Yeouido; Speaker Cho Jeong-sik (elected 5 June 2026 for the second half of the term; Woo Won-shik, 2024–26, before him), deputy speakers Nam In-soon (Democratic) and Park Duk-hyum (People Power); by the roll of June 2026 the Democratic Party 161, the People Power Party 109, the Rebuilding Korea Party 12, the Progressive Party 4, the Reform Party 3, the Basic Income Party 1, the Social Democratic Party 1, independents 8, one seat vacant; the floor leaders Han Byung-do (Democratic, since 11 January 2026, re-elected 6 May) and Jeong Jeom-sik (People Power, since 10 June 2026); the acts of the term — the Special Act on Investment in the United States of 13 March 2026 (226 to 8), the prosecution reform and the Government Organization Act of September 2025, the three special counsels of 2025; the 2027 budget due by 2 December 2026 |
| The politics of the year | The martial law of 3 December 2024 and its reckoning — Yoon Suk Yeol, impeached 14 December 2024, arrested 15 January 2025 (the first sitting president), removed 8–0 by the Constitutional Court on 4 April 2025, jailed again 10 July 2025: convicted on 16 January 2026 of obstructing his arrest and abuse of power (five years, seven on appeal 29 April 2026), sentenced to life on 19 February 2026 by the Seoul Central District Court under Judge Ji Gwi-yeon for leading an insurrection (the special counsel sought death; his appeal at the Seoul High Court resumed 25 June 2026 after the recusal fight, the death penalty sought again, no ruling yet), to 30 years on 12 June 2026 for the drone flights over Pyongyang meant to bait the North, acquitted of perjury on appeal 16 September 2026; Kim Yong-hyun, his defense minister, 30 years; Han Duck-soo 23 years, cut to 15 on 7 May 2026; Lee Sang-min seven years (12 February 2026); Park Sung-jae 25 years (22 June 2026); Kim Keon-hee, the former first lady, 20 months (28 January 2026) raised to four years on appeal (28 April) in the Unification Church case and seven years (26 June) cut to five (22 September) in the mediation-bribery case, appealed to the Supreme Court on 23 September; the People Power Party's apology of 7 January 2026; the local elections of 3 June the Democratic sweep with the Seoul exception; Kim Min-seok's leap from the premiership to the party chair (17 August 2026, 54.08% over Jung Chung-rae); the "year-two reset" of 30 August with its two fallen nominees (13 and 19 September), the policy chief gone (1 September), the chief of staff's resignation offered (21 September) and the approval at 37%; the constitutional revision push and Lee's "no second term" of 19 September; the Prosecutors' Office of 78 years dissolving on 2 October 2026 into the Public Prosecution Agency and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency; the KOSPI's boom and bear; the government's case (the coup punished under law, the reforms promised at the polls, the chip boom) and the opposition's ("political retaliation," the ballot shortage of 3 June, "one-party rule," the housing and the appointments) both stated (LAW 2) |
| Next elections | Legislative, by 12 April 2028 (the 23rd Assembly); presidential, the spring of 2030 (Lee's single term ends 3 June 2030); local, June 2030; the constitutional referendum the Democratic Party aims at by mid-2027 |
| Parties | The Democratic Party of Korea (Deobureo Minjudang, liberal, the ruling party; chair Kim Min-seok since 17 August 2026, floor leader Han Byung-do); the People Power Party (Gungminui Him, conservative, the main opposition; chair Jang Dong-hyeok since 26 August 2025 by 50.27% over Kim Moon-soo, who apologized for the martial law on 7 January 2026 and kept his post through the calls to quit after 3 June; floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik since 10 June 2026); the Rebuilding Korea Party (Cho Kuk, pardoned 15 August 2025, who quit the chair after his third place of 3 June 2026); the Reform Party (Lee Jun-seok); the Progressive Party; the Basic Income Party (Yong Hye-in); the Social Democratic Party; the Democratic Labor Party (Kwon Yeong-guk); Gallup Korea of September 2026: Democratic 40%, People Power 27% |
| Legal system | Civil law on the German and Japanese models with the Constitution of 1987 above — the Supreme Court of 14 (Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae since 8 December 2023), the Constitutional Court of nine (President Kim Sang-hwan since 2 April 2025), six high courts, 18 district courts, the patent, family and administrative courts; the jury of 2008 advisory only; the death penalty on the books and unused since 1997, upheld by the Constitutional Court in 2010; the prosecution of 1948 reorganized on 2 October 2026 — the Public Prosecution Agency of about 1,900 prosecutors under the Justice Ministry to indict and try, the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency under the Interior Ministry to investigate, the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (2021) for the rest, the government calling it the end of the prosecutors' "monopoly" and the opposition a weakening of the law (LAW 2); the special counsels of 2025 on the insurrection, the first lady and the Marine's death; the National Security Act of 1948; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of 2020, convened again on 26 February 2026 for the adoptions; the Constitutional Court that removed two presidents (2017, 2025) |
| Defense | The Republic of Korea Armed Forces — about 450,000 active (2025) and 3.1 million reserves, the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force; conscription of 18 months (Army, Marines), 20 (Navy) and 21 (Air Force) for men; the budget of about ₩66 trillion for 2026 (about 2.3% of GDP) and ₩73.28 trillion proposed for 2027 (+8.2% on the ministry's base of ₩67.7 trillion, the largest rise in 18 years; ₩21.3 trillion toward the transfer of wartime operational control the Lee government wants by 2030, ₩3.3 trillion for the KF-21 fighter, the first ₩100 billion of design money for nuclear-powered submarines under the U.S. consent of October 2025, the L-SAM missile shield); the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States of 1 October 1953, the 28,500 of U.S. Forces Korea at Camp Humphreys, the Combined Forces Command, the wartime command with the U.S. since 1950; the defense exports of US$15.4 billion in 2025 (+60%; Poland's K2 tanks, K9 howitzers and Chunmoo rockets, Romania, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) with US$27 billion projected for 2026; General Jin Yong-seung chairs the Joint Chiefs; the North's missiles of 2026 (4 and 27 January, 14 March, 8 and 19 April, 25 May) and its Ninth Party Congress of 19–25 February 2026; the Cheonghae unit off the Gulf; Global Firepower ranks the forces fifth of the world (2026) |
| Foreign policy | The alliance with the United States first — the summits with Trump of 25 August 2025 at the White House, 29 October 2025 at Gyeongju (the APEC of 31 October to 1 November 2025 Korea hosted) that sealed the tariff deal (15% on autos and most goods, US$350 billion of investment: US$200 billion in cash at US$20 billion a year and US$150 billion for shipbuilding, the "MASGA"; the joint fact sheet of 14 November 2025; the Special Act of 13 March 2026 and the Korea–U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation; the first project a US$22.3 billion gas plant in Texas, eight reactors and Alaska gas in talks), and the 30 minutes in New York of 22 September 2026 (the submarines, enrichment and reprocessing, the wartime command, the North); the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling of 20 February 2026 against the IEEPA tariffs and the 10% global tariff that followed, the deal "largely intact" by the trade minister; Lee's refusal of 18 September 2026 to send forces into the Iran war while keeping the Cheonghae unit for the ships, and the Hormuz "partnership of constructive contributors" of his UN speech of 23 September 2026 with its call for U.S.–North Korean talks and the "END" initiative (exchange, normalization, denuclearization) of 23 September 2025; China: the "full restoration" of 2026 — Xi Jinping at Gyeongju on 1 November 2025 and the state visit to Beijing and Shanghai of 4–7 January 2026 with 15 agreements; Japan: the "shuttle diplomacy" with Takaichi Sanae — Nara on 13–14 January 2026, Andong on 19–20 November 2026 next, after the 60 years of the treaty of 1965; the North: no talks since 2019, Kim Jong-un's "two hostile states" doctrine, the loudspeakers switched off and the leaflets stopped in 2025, the Naegohyang women's team in Suwon in May 2026 the first sports visit since 2018, the DMZ blast of 21 September 2026; the state visits of 2026 to Singapore, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Belgium, Italy, the Vatican, France (the G7 of Évian), Turkey (the NATO summit of 7–8 July), Mongolia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Mexico (25–27 September, 17 agreements, a trade pact proposed); the G20 of Miami of 14–15 December 2026 next |
| United Nations | Member since 17 September 1991, with the North, after 40 years of Soviet and Chinese vetoes; Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General 2007–16; the Security Council in 1996–97, 2013–14 and 2024–25; the Korean War fought under the UN flag by 16 nations from 1950, the UN Command still at Pyeongtaek, the UN Memorial Cemetery of Busan; the Green Climate Fund at Songdo since 2013; the first member to go from aid recipient to OECD donor (the DAC, 2010) |
| Other memberships | OECD (12 December 1996), G20 (the Seoul summit of 2010), APEC (1989; the host of 2005 and 2025), ASEAN Plus Three, the East Asia Summit, RCEP (2022), IPEF, the WTO (1995), the IMF and the World Bank (1955), the ADB, the AIIB, MIKTA, the Paris Club (2016), the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Wassenaar Arrangement, NATO's Indo-Pacific partners (IP4), the "Chip 4"; the free-trade agreements with the U.S. (2012), the EU (2011), China (2015), the U.K., ASEAN, India (2010), Australia, Canada, the Gulf states (2023); the CPTPP weighed |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$1.87 trillion (2025, IMF World Economic Outlook of April 2026: US$1,872 billion; US$1,875 billion in 2024) and about US$1.93 trillion projected for 2026 — the 14th or 15th largest of the world by the year (14th in 2025, 15th in the IMF's 2026 table; both stated), the fourth of Asia after China, Japan and India; about ₩2,550 trillion in 2024 by the Bank of Korea; under US$4 billion in 1962 |
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| GDP per capita | About US$36,000 (2025, IMF) — US$37,412 projected for 2026, 36th of the world; above Japan's in the IMF's tables since 2024; US$100 in 1960 |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$66,000 (2025; US$68,624 projected for 2026, 27th) — the PPP GDP of about US$3.4 trillion (2025) and US$3.54 trillion (2026, 14th) |
| GDP growth | 2.0% (2024), 1.0% (2025, the martial law winter and the tariffs) and, for 2026, 1.9% by the IMF of April 2026 against 3.3% by the Bank of Korea's revision of 27 August 2026 on the chip boom (2.9% for 2027) — both stated; the exports of 2026 running about 70% above 2025; the "Miracle on the Han River" of 8–10% a year from the 1960s to the 1990s, the IMF crisis of 1997 (−5.1% in 1998), +6.8% in 2010, +4.6% in 2021 |
| Economy by sector | Services about 58%, industry about 32% (manufacturing about a quarter of GDP, the highest share of the OECD after Ireland), agriculture about 1.6% (2023); the chaebol — Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG, Lotte, Hanwha, HD Hyundai, POSCO, GS, Shinsegae — a fifth of GDP in Samsung's group alone by the estimates; 29.15 million employed (August 2026), manufacturing shrinking for 26 months and health and care growing |
| Currency and prices | The won at 1,336 to 1,412 to the dollar in August–September 2026; inflation 3.1% in August 2026 (core 3.4%, the highest since 2023; the mobile fees, the oil of the Iran war), 2.7% forecast for 2026; the Bank of Korea base rate 3.00% after the rises of 16 July 2026 (to 2.75%, the first in three years) and 27 August 2026 (by six votes to one), from the 2.50% of the cuts of October 2024 to May 2025; the target 2%; Governor Rhee Chang-yong since April 2022; the Fed at 3.75–4.00% since 16 September 2026, the gap of a point |
| Semiconductors and electronics | The memory chips of the world — Samsung Electronics (the largest company of Korea, the Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong fabs, Taylor in Texas) and SK hynix (the leader in the HBM of Nvidia's AI, Icheon and Cheongju, the Yongin cluster), the two largest makers of memory chips; chip exports US$173.4 billion in 2025 (+22.2%, the record) and US$46.65 billion in August 2026 alone (+209%), US$34.1 billion in the first 20 days of September (+259%); the Yongin mega-cluster of ₩622 trillion; the semiconductor hub of Jeonnam-Gwangju announced in June 2026 with about US$518 billion of investment planned by the two; Samsung at ₩274,000 and SK hynix at ₩1,868,000 a share on 21 September 2026 after the crash of June–July; the smartphones (Samsung Galaxy, first of the world by units), the displays (Samsung, LG), the batteries (LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, SK On) |
| Autos, ships, steel and arms | Hyundai Motor and Kia, the third-largest automaker group of the world, the Ulsan plant of 1968 the largest single car plant on Earth, the Georgia Metaplant of 2024; auto exports US$72 billion (2025); shipbuilding — HD Hyundai Heavy of Ulsan, Hanwha Ocean of Geoje (the Daewoo of old) and Samsung Heavy of Geoje, the LNG carriers and the "MASGA" pledge to rebuild the U.S. yards, about 20–22% of the world's orders in 2025 by tonnage against China's 60%, first in the high-value ships; ship exports US$32 billion (+24.9%); the steel of POSCO (Pohang, Gwangyang) and Hyundai Steel, US$30.3 billion; the petrochemicals of Yeosu and Ulsan, US$42.5 billion; the K-defense of US$15.4 billion; the bio of Samsung Biologics and Celltrion, US$16.3 billion |
| Agriculture and fisheries | Rice (about 3.6 million metric tons a year on the paddies of the west and south), self-sufficient in rice and about 20% in grain; barley, the cabbage and chili of kimchi, the apples of Cheongsong, the pears of Naju, the tangerines of Jeju, the strawberries, the ginseng of Geumsan, the hanwoo cattle, the pigs and chickens; the fisheries of Busan and the aquaculture of laver (gim, about US$1 billion of exports), abalone, oysters and seaweed; farmers about 4% of the workforce and aging; the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (Nonghyup); the K-food exports of over US$10 billion |
| Services and finance | The KOSPI — from 4,000 on 27 October 2025 to 5,000 (27 January 2026), 6,000 (25 February), 7,000 (6 May), 8,000 (26 May), 9,000 (18 June) and the record 9,385.59 of 19 June 2026, then the bear of the summer (6,880.98 on 13 July, −27%, on the pension fund's rebalancing, the foreigners' selling of ₩171 trillion by one count, the single-stock leveraged ETFs, the trading halts and the memory prices) and 7,007.72 on 21 September 2026; KB, Shinhan, Hana and Woori the banks, the Korea Investment and Mirae Asset houses; MSCI kept Korea an "emerging market" on 24 June 2026 (FTSE "developed" since 2009); the retail of Coupang (fined ₩624.6 billion on 10 June 2026 for the breach of 33.7 million accounts of November 2025), Naver, Kakao; the gaming of Nexon, Krafton and NCSoft; the entertainment of HYBE, SM, JYP and YG; the "K-content" exports of about US$14 billion; the tourism and the duty-free of Lotte and Shilla |
| Trade | Exports US$709.7 billion (2025, +3.8%, the record) and imports US$631.7 billion, the surplus US$78 billion, the largest since 2017; semiconductors a quarter, autos, petroleum products, ships, machinery, petrochemicals, steel, displays, batteries, cosmetics, K-food; to China US$130.8 billion (18%), the United States US$122.9 billion (17%), ASEAN US$122.5 billion, the EU US$70.1 billion, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India; imports of crude (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, the U.S.), gas, coal, chip equipment; 2026: August exports US$98.25 billion (+68.7%) and a surplus of US$34.75 billion, to the U.S. US$16.5 billion (+89%); the U.S. tariff of 15% on autos and most goods under the deal of 2025 (the 25% of Section 232 cut), 50% on steel; the world's sixth or seventh exporter |
| Energy | About 93% of the energy imported — the crude of the Gulf (about 70% of it through Hormuz), the LNG of Qatar, Australia and the U.S.; the power of about 600 TWh a year — coal about 34%, gas about 27%, nuclear about 25–30% (26 reactors, 25.6 GWe, at Kori, Saeul, Hanbit, Hanul and Wolsong; Saeul 3 started in 2026, three more building; the 11th plan to 35.6% by 2038 with two new units), solar about 7%, the rest; the ₩100 trillion stabilization fund of 5 March 2026 for the markets of the Iran war and the Brent of US$126; KEPCO and KHNP; the APR-1400 exports to Barakah (four units, the last in 2024) and Dukovany (June 2025, about US$18.6 billion); carbon neutrality by 2050, the cuts of 40% by 2030 and 53–61% by 2035 on 2018 |
| Tourism | 18.5 million foreign visitors in 2025, the record, past the 17.5 million of 2019 (China, Japan, Taiwan, the U.S., Hong Kong), 20 million aimed at for 2026 and 30 million by 2030; the K-pop and drama trail, Gyeongbokgung and the hanbok, Jeju, Busan, Gyeongju; the visa-free Chinese groups since 2025; the outbound of about 28 million; the Yeosu World Island Exhibition of 5 September to 4 November 2026 |
| Labor and wages | Employed 29.15 million (August 2026), the employment rate of 15-to-64-year-olds 70.4%, unemployment about 2.6%, the young (15–29) 5.4% and their employment down for 28 months; the minimum wage ₩10,320 an hour (2026) and ₩10,700 for 2027 (+3.7%, set 14 July 2026); the average monthly wage about ₩4.6 million; the 52-hour week of 2018 and the 4.5-day-week trials; the unions of the KCTU and the FKTU, the "Yellow Envelope Act" of 2025; the medical residents' walkout of 2024–25 over the school quota, ended; the over-60s the fastest-growing workers |
| Public finances | The budget of ₩727.9 trillion for 2026 and ₩820.9 trillion proposed for 2027 (+12.8%, the fastest rise on record, approved by the cabinet on 27 August 2026 for the Assembly by 2 December) — revenue ₩880.8 trillion on the chip windfall (tax up 49.8%), the deficit 0.1% of GDP, the debt ₩1,519.8 trillion (48.3% of GDP), ₩21.3 trillion for AI and chips, ₩162.3 trillion into a "Future Response Fund"; the ratings AA (S&P), Aa2 (Moody's), AA− (Fitch), all stable; the reserves of US$442.28 billion at end-August 2026 after the record monthly gain of US$14.33 billion, among the ten largest of the world; the National Pension Service of over ₩1,300 trillion, the third-largest pension fund |
| Income classification | High income (the World Bank); a "developed economy" by UNCTAD since July 2021, the first upgrade from the developing group; an OECD member since 1996 and a DAC donor since 2010; "emerging" still for MSCI |
Transport & infrastructure
| Airports | Incheon International (ICN), opened 29 March 2001 on the reclaimed land between Yeongjong and Yongyu, the hub of Korean Air — 74.07 million passengers in 2025 (the record; 71.15 million in 2024), 2.95 million metric tons of cargo, the Terminal 2 expansion of December 2024 for 106 million, past a billion passengers since opening; Gimpo (GMP) for the domestic and the Tokyo, Shanghai and Taipei shuttles; Jeju (CJU), the Gimpo–Jeju route the busiest of the world; Gimhae (Busan), Daegu, Cheongju, Muan, Yangyang, Gwangju, Ulsan; the Gadeokdo airport for Busan planned; Korean Air (the flag carrier of 1969) with Asiana absorbed since 12 December 2024 and its brand to end in 2026, Jin Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul merging into one low-cost carrier, Jeju Air, T'way, Eastar, Air Premia, Aero K |
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| Ports | Busan, the seventh-largest container port of the world — 24.88 million TEUs in 2025 (+2.0%; 14.1 million of them transshipment, the second hub after Singapore), the New Port of Gadeok; Gwangyang, Incheon, Pyeongtaek-Dangjin, Ulsan (the oil and the cars), Pohang, Yeosu, Gunsan, Mokpo, Donghae, Jeju; the ferries of Incheon to China and Busan to Fukuoka and Osaka; HMM, the flag line; the naval base of Jeju; the ministry of the sea in Busan since December 2025 |
| Railways | Korail's national network of about 4,300 km, standard gauge, three-quarters electrified; the KTX high-speed rail since 1 April 2004 (the Gyeongbu line Seoul–Busan in about 2 h 15 min, the Honam, Gangneung, Jungang and Jungbu lines; the KTX-Cheongryong of 2024 at 320 km/h; about 100 million passengers a year), the SRT of 2016 from Suseo; the Seoul Metropolitan Subway of 15 August 1974, over 1,100 km with the suburban lines, among the longest and busiest of the world; the metros of Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Daejeon and Gwangju; the GTX-A express of 2024 under the capital region; the Gyeongui line to Dorasan at the DMZ; the trans-Korean link cut at the North since 2008 |
| Roads | About 114,000 km of roads, about 5,000 km of expressways from the Gyeongbu Expressway of 7 July 1970 (Seoul–Busan, 416 km) — the Seohaean, the Jungbu, the Yeongdong, the Namhae; about 26 million registered vehicles, one to every two people; the Hi-Pass tolls; the Incheon Bridge of 21.4 km (2009); the Seoul Ring; Hyundai and Kia three cars in four |
| City transport | The T-money card of 2004 across the buses and the subways, the Climate Card of 2024 (₩62,000 a month unlimited in Seoul) and the K-Pass; the Seoul bus reform of 2004 with its colored lines; the Han River bus of 2025; the Kakao T taxis; the Cheonggyecheon stream restored in 2005 over the expressway; the Ttareungyi bicycles; Naver Map and Kakao Map (Google's maps cut short by the survey-data law) |
| Utilities | KEPCO the grid, the electricity about 600 TWh a year, the cheapest industrial power of the OECD; the water of K-water and the Paldang reservoir; the internet — the first 5G of the world on 3 April 2019, fiber to nine homes in ten, speeds among the fastest; the smartphones of 97% of adults; KT, SK Telecom (the SIM breach of 2025) and LG U+, whose fees drove the inflation of August 2026; the district heating; the food-waste bags and the recycling of the world's strictest |
| The country | Seoul's Gyeongbokgung of 1395 and the four palaces, Bukchon, Insadong, Namsan and the N Seoul Tower, the Lotte World Tower of 555 m, Gangnam, Hongdae, Myeongdong, the Han parks; the DMZ tours to Panmunjom and Dorasan; Suwon's Hwaseong; Gyeongju's tombs, Bulguksa and Seokguram; Busan's Haeundae, Gamcheon and the Jagalchi market; Jeju's Hallasan, Seongsan Ilchulbong, the lava tubes and the haenyeo; Andong's Hahoe; Jeonju's hanok village and bibimbap; Seoraksan; the Boseong tea fields; Haeinsa and Tongdosa; the Bangudae petroglyphs of Ulsan; the Yeosu of the expo of 2012 and the island exhibition of 2026; the Tripitaka Koreana; the templestays |
History in dates
| c. 700,000 BC | The Paleolithic of the hand axes of Jeongok-ri on the Hantan River; the Jeulmun comb-pattern pottery from about 8000 BC; the Mumun rice farmers and the bronze daggers of about 1500–300 BC; the dolmens of Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa, over 30,000 of the world's dolmens |
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| 2333 BC | Dangun, the son of the heavenly prince and the bear-woman, founds Gojoseon on 3 October by the legend of the Samguk Yusa — the National Foundation Day; the historical Gojoseon of the Liao and Taedong basins from about the 7th century BC; Wiman Joseon of 194 BC |
| 108 BC | Emperor Wu of Han conquers Wiman Joseon and plants the four commanderies, Lelang at Pyongyang the longest-lived (to 313); the Samhan confederacies of the south — Mahan, Jinhan, Byeonhan |
| 57 BC – 18 BC | The Three Kingdoms founded by the traditional dates — Silla at Gyeongju (57 BC), Goguryeo on the Yalu (37 BC), Baekje on the Han (18 BC); Gaya between them; Buddhism to Goguryeo in 372, to Baekje in 384, to Silla in 527; Goguryeo's Gwanggaeto the Great (391–413); Baekje carries Buddhism and the writing to Japan |
| 660–676 | Silla and Tang destroy Baekje (660) and Goguryeo (668); Silla drives the Tang out by 676 and unifies the peninsula south of the Taedong — Unified Silla, the Bulguksa and Seokguram of 751, the Emille Bell of 771; Balhae of 698 in the north, "the flourishing land of the east" |
| 918 | Wang Geon founds Goryeo at Kaesong; Silla submits in 935 and Later Baekje falls in 936 — the reunification; the civil service examinations of 958; the first Tripitaka carved 1011–87; the celadon; the Khitan wars and the wall of 1033 |
| 1231–1259 | The six Mongol invasions; the court on Ganghwa Island; the Tripitaka Koreana of 81,258 woodblocks carved 1236–51 and kept at Haeinsa; Goryeo a Yuan son-in-law kingdom to 1356; the Jikji printed with movable metal type at Heungdeoksa of Cheongju in 1377, the oldest such book extant |
| 1392 | General Yi Seong-gye (Taejo) deposes the last Goryeo king and founds Joseon in July (the 17th by the lunar calendar, the Constitution Day of 1948); the capital at Hanyang (Seoul) from 28 October 1394, Gyeongbokgung of 1395; the Neo-Confucian state of the yangban and the gwageo examinations; the 27 kings to 1910 |
| 1443–1446 | King Sejong the Great creates Hangul in 1443 and promulgates it as the Hunminjeongeum on 9 October 1446; the rain gauge of 1441, the sundials and the water clocks of Jang Yeong-sil; the Hall of Worthies; the northern frontier fixed on the Yalu and the Tumen |
| 1592–1598 | The Imjin War — Hideyoshi's Japan invades on 23 May 1592, takes Seoul in three weeks; Admiral Yi Sun-sin's turtle ships win at Hansando (14 August 1592) and Myeongnyang (26 October 1597, 13 ships against 133); the Ming intervene; the second invasion of 1597; Yi dies in the last battle at Noryang, 16 December 1598; the country ruined, the potters carried off |
| 1627 and 1636 | The Manchu invasions; King Injo's surrender at Samjeondo on 24 February 1637 and the tribute to the Qing; the "Hermit Kingdom" closes; the Silhak "practical learning" of the 1700s; King Jeongjo's Hwaseong of 1796 |
| 1784 | Yi Seung-hun baptized in Beijing founds the Catholic Church of Korea, the only church founded by laymen; the persecutions of 1801, 1839 and 1866 and the 103 martyrs canonized by John Paul II in Seoul on 6 May 1984; the Donghak "Eastern learning" of Choe Je-u of 1860 |
| 1866–1871 | The French expedition to Ganghwa (1866) after the martyrs, the burning of the General Sherman at Pyongyang (1866), the American expedition of 1871 — the Daewongun's isolation; the Treaty of Ganghwa with Japan of 26 February 1876 opens the ports; the treaty with the United States of 22 May 1882 |
| 1882–1884 | The Imo mutiny of 1882; the Taegukgi raised in September 1882 and made the flag on 27 January 1883 (lunar); the Gapsin coup of 4 December 1884 of the reformers, put down by the Chinese in three days; the first Protestant missionaries of 1884–85; the Seoul–Incheon telegraph of 1885 |
| 1894–1895 | The Donghak peasant war; Japan and China fight the First Sino-Japanese War over Korea (Japan wins, 1895); the Gabo reforms abolish slavery, the examinations and the class system; Queen Min (Empress Myeongseong) murdered by Japanese agents in Gyeongbokgung on 8 October 1895; the king flees to the Russian legation in 1896; the Independence Club and the first newspaper in Hangul |
| 13 October 1897 | Gojong proclaims the Korean Empire, Daehan Jeguk, and crowns himself emperor at the Hwangudan altar; the Gwangmu reforms, the Seoul–Incheon railway of 1899, the streetcars; the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 fought over Korea |
| 17 November 1905 | The Eulsa Treaty makes Korea a Japanese protectorate under Resident-General Ito Hirobumi; Gojong's envoys to The Hague in 1907 and his forced abdication; the army disbanded, the "righteous armies"; An Jung-geun shoots Ito at Harbin on 26 October 1909 |
| 29 August 1910 | The Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty — the "Day of National Humiliation," 35 years of colonial rule as Chōsen under the Government-General; the land survey, the Japanese language, the name changes of 1940, the mobilization of the 1930s and 1940s, the "comfort women"; the Korean Liberation Army of the Provisional Government |
| 1 March 1919 | The March First Movement — the Declaration of Independence read at Tapgol Park, some two million in the streets over the months, about 7,500 killed by the Korean count; Yu Gwan-sun dies in prison; the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea founded in Shanghai on 11 April 1919 under Syngman Rhee and Kim Gu; the Battle of Cheongsanri of 1920; the Gwangju student movement of 1929 |
| 15 August 1945 | Liberation — Japan's surrender ends the colony; the peninsula divided at the 38th parallel between the Soviet and American armies; the U.S. Army Military Government in the south from 9 September 1945; the trusteeship quarrel; the Jeju uprising of 3 April 1948 and its suppression, up to 30,000 dead |
| 15 August 1948 | The Republic of Korea proclaimed in Seoul under President Syngman Rhee after the UN-supervised election of 10 May 1948 and the Constitution of 17 July 1948; the North's Democratic People's Republic proclaimed 9 September 1948; UN Resolution 195 of 12 December 1948 |
| 25 June 1950 | The Korean War — the North attacks at dawn and takes Seoul in three days; the UN forces of 16 nations under MacArthur; the Pusan Perimeter; the Incheon landing of 15 September 1950; the Chinese intervention of October; Seoul changes hands four times; the armistice of 27 July 1953 at Panmunjom, no peace treaty; about 3 million dead, the country in ruins, 10 million families divided; the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States of 1 October 1953 |
| 19 April 1960 | The April Revolution — the students of Masan and Seoul against the rigged election of 15 March; 186 shot; Rhee resigns on 26 April and leaves for Hawaii; the Second Republic of Chang Myon |
| 16 May 1961 | Major General Park Chung-hee's coup; the Third Republic of 1963; the first five-year plan of 1962, the won of 10 June 1962, the export drive, POSCO (1968), the Gyeongbu Expressway of 7 July 1970, the Saemaul movement, the chaebol — the "Miracle on the Han River"; the normalization treaty with Japan of 22 June 1965; the troops to Vietnam; the Blue House raid of 21 January 1968 |
| 1972–1979 | The Yushin constitution of 21 November 1972 makes Park president for life; the Heavy and Chemical Industry drive; Park's wife killed by a North Korean agent's bullet in 1974; Park shot dead by his own intelligence chief Kim Jae-gyu on 26 October 1979; Chun Doo-hwan's coup of 12 December 1979 |
| 18–27 May 1980 | The Gwangju Uprising against Chun's martial law — the paratroopers, the citizens' militia, the last stand at the provincial hall; about 200 dead by the official count, more by others; Chun president under the Fifth Republic of 1981; the Rangoon bombing of 9 October 1983 kills 17 of the delegation; KAL 007 shot down 1 September 1983 |
| June 1987 | The June Democratic Struggle — the death of the student Park Jong-chul under torture, the tear-gas death of Lee Han-yeol, millions in the streets; Roh Tae-woo's declaration of 29 June concedes direct presidential elections; the Constitution of 29 October 1987, the Sixth Republic; Roh elected 16 December 1987 by 36.6% against the divided opposition; the Great Workers' Struggle of the summer |
| 17 September – 2 October 1988 | The Seoul Olympics, 159 nations, the Hodori tiger, the boycott era ended; the Northern Policy — ties with the Soviet Union (30 September 1990) and China (24 August 1992); the two Koreas join the United Nations on 17 September 1991; the Basic Agreement and the denuclearization declaration of December 1991 |
| 25 February 1993 | Kim Young-sam, the first civilian president in 32 years — the real-name financial system, the arrest of Chun and Roh (Chun sentenced to death in 1996, commuted, both pardoned in 1997); the OECD of 12 December 1996; the Sampoong store collapse of 29 June 1995 (502 dead); Kim Il-sung dies 8 July 1994 on the eve of a summit |
| 21 November 1997 | The IMF bailout of US$58 billion in the Asian financial crisis — the won halved, the chaebol broken (Daewoo), the "gold-collecting campaign" of 3.5 million people; Kim Dae-jung elected 18 December 1997, the first transfer of power to the opposition, in office 25 February 1998; the "Sunshine Policy"; growth back to +11% in 1999 |
| 13–15 June 2000 | The first inter-Korean summit at Pyongyang — Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il, the Joint Declaration of 15 June; the Nobel Peace Prize of 13 October 2000; the Kaesong Industrial Complex of 2004; the second summit of Roh Moo-hyun of 2–4 October 2007 |
| 2002 | The World Cup co-hosted with Japan — the "Red Devils," the wins over Italy and Spain, the semifinal of 25 June 2002 lost to Germany 0–1, fourth place; the Yeonpyeong sea battle of 29 June 2002; Roh Moo-hyun elected 19 December 2002, impeached by the Assembly 12 March 2004 and restored by the Constitutional Court 14 May; the KTX of 1 April 2004 |
| 2010 | The Cheonan sunk by a North Korean torpedo on 26 March 2010, 46 sailors dead; the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island on 23 November 2010; the G20 summit of Seoul of 11–12 November 2010, the first in Asia; the OECD Development Assistance Committee joined 1 January 2010, the first former recipient; "Gangnam Style" of July 2012, the first video to a billion views |
| 25 February 2013 | Park Geun-hye, Park Chung-hee's daughter, the first woman president; the Sewol ferry sinks off Jindo on 16 April 2014, 304 dead, 250 of them schoolchildren of Danwon High School; the MERS of 2015; the THAAD quarrel with China of 2016–17 |
| 9 December 2016 – 10 March 2017 | The candlelight protests of millions over the Choi Soon-sil scandal; Park impeached by the Assembly 234 to 56 on 9 December 2016 and removed by the Constitutional Court 8–0 on 10 March 2017, the first president removed; Moon Jae-in elected 9 May 2017; Park sentenced to 20 years and pardoned 31 December 2021 |
| 2018 | The PyeongChang Winter Olympics of 9–25 February 2018 with the joint Korean women's hockey team; the Panmunjom summit of Moon and Kim Jong-un of 27 April 2018 and its declaration, the summits of 26 May and 18–20 September at Pyongyang; the Trump–Kim summits of Singapore (12 June 2018) and Hanoi (27–28 February 2019) and the DMZ meeting of 30 June 2019, the last talks |
| 9 February 2020 | Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" wins four Oscars, the first non-English Best Picture; the COVID-19 of the Daegu cluster of February 2020 and the "K-quarantine"; "Squid Game" of September 2021 Netflix's most-watched; Yoon Suk Yeol, the former prosecutor general, elected 9 March 2022 by 0.73 of a point over Lee Jae-myung; the Itaewon crowd crush of 29 October 2022, 159 dead; the Constitutional Court and the "Korean age" law of 2023 |
| 10 October 2024 | Han Kang wins the Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Korean and the first Asian woman; the super-aged 20% of 23 December 2024; Jeju Air Flight 2216 crashes at Muan on 29 December 2024, 179 dead |
| 3 December 2024 | President Yoon declares martial law at 10:27 p.m., the first since 1980, sends troops to the National Assembly; 190 lawmakers climb the fences and vote it down at 1:01 a.m., the decree lifted at 4:30 a.m.; the first impeachment vote of 7 December fails on the boycott, the second passes 204 to 85 on 14 December 2024; Han Duck-soo acting, impeached himself on 27 December, Choi Sang-mok acting |
| 15 January 2025 | Yoon arrested at the residence after the standoff of 3 January, the first sitting president detained; released 8 March by a court on the detention's term; the Constitutional Court removes him 8–0 on 4 April 2025; the snap election of 3 June 2025 won by Lee Jae-myung with 49.42%, sworn in 4 June 2025; Yoon jailed again 10 July 2025; the wildfires of March 2025, the worst on record |
| 25 August 2025 | Lee at the White House with Trump; the "END" initiative at the UN on 23 September; the APEC summit of Gyeongju of 31 October to 1 November 2025 with Trump (29 October, the tariff deal of 15% and US$350 billion, the nuclear submarines) and Xi Jinping (1 November); the joint fact sheet of 14 November 2025; the Bangucheon petroglyphs listed 12 July 2025; the presidential office back at Cheong Wa Dae on 29 December 2025; the KOSPI past 4,000 on 27 October 2025 |
| 16 January 2026 | Yoon sentenced to five years for obstructing his arrest and abuse of power; Han Duck-soo to 23 years on 21 January (15 on appeal, 7 May); Kim Keon-hee to 20 months on 28 January (four years on appeal, 28 April); the state visit to China of 4–7 January and Nara with Takaichi of 13–14 January; the PPP's apology of 7 January; the KOSPI past 5,000 on 27 January |
| 19 February 2026 | Yoon sentenced to life for leading an insurrection by the Seoul Central District Court, Kim Yong-hyun to 30 years, Noh Sang-won to 18; the North's Ninth Party Congress of 19–25 February; the KOSPI past 6,000 on 25 February; the U.S. Supreme Court strikes the IEEPA tariffs on 20 February; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission convened 26 February on the adoptions |
| 28 February 2026 | The United States and Israel strike Iran — the Iran war, the Strait of Hormuz "closed" from 4 March, Brent past US$100 on 8 March and to US$126, Dubai crude at a record US$166 on 19 March; Lee's ₩100 trillion stabilization fund of 5 March 2026; the Special Act on the U.S. investment passed 13 March (226 to 8); the Daejeon factory fire of 20 March, 14 dead; the ceasefire of 8 April and the memorandum of 17 June that ended the war |
| 29 April 2026 | The Seoul High Court raises Yoon's sentence in the obstruction case to seven years; Kim Keon-hee's to four years the day before; the KOSPI past 7,000 on 6 May, 8,000 on 26 May; the Naegohyang women's team of the North in Suwon, 17–23 May, and its AFC title; the Seodaemun overpass collapse of 26 May, 3 dead; the Hanwha Aerospace explosion of 1 June, 5 dead |
| 3 June 2026 | The local elections — the Democratic Party 12 of the 16 metropolitan heads and 119 of the 227 municipal, the People Power Party 4 with Oh Se-hoon's fifth term in Seoul; the ballots that ran out in 91 districts and the election commission's chair gone on 5 June; the by-elections 9–4–1 with Han Dong-hoon back; Speaker Cho Jeong-sik elected 5 June; Han Seong-sook nominated Prime Minister 7 June; Coupang fined ₩624.6 billion on 10 June; Yoon sentenced to 30 years for the drones on 12 June; the KOSPI at 9,000 on 18 June and its record 9,385.59 on 19 June; the World Cup exit of 28 June |
| 1 July 2026 | Han Seong-sook takes office as Prime Minister, confirmed 30 June by 166 votes; Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City born of the merger; the KOSPI's trough of 6,880.98 on 13 July; the minimum wage of ₩10,700 set 14 July; the Bank of Korea's first rise in three years, to 2.75%, on 16 July; Hong Myung-bo resigns; the NATO summit of Ankara of 7–8 July and the tour of the Americas |
| 17 August 2026 | Kim Min-seok elected chair of the Democratic Party with 54.08% over Jung Chung-rae; Lee's proposal of a four-year, two-term presidency of 16 August; the justice minister's resignation accepted 24 August; the Bank of Korea to 3.00% and the 2027 budget of ₩820.9 trillion on 27 August; the reshuffle of six ministers of 30 August; the policy chief out on 1 September; August exports of US$98.25 billion, the record |
| 21 September 2026 | The DMZ explosion that wounds three officers; the chief of staff offers to resign; Lee at the UN — the summit with Trump of 22 September (the submarines, the wartime command, the North), the three ministers appointed the same night, the General Assembly speech of 23 September on Hormuz and the peace regime; the state visit to Mexico of 25–27 September; Kim Seung-won's withdrawal of 19 September and Lee's "no second term"; the Asian Games of Aichi–Nagoya from 19 September; the KOSPI back over 7,000 on 21 September |
| 2 October 2026 | The Prosecutors' Office of 78 years to dissolve into the Public Prosecution Agency and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency; the Yeosu World Island Exhibition to 4 November; the Andong summit with Takaichi of 19–20 November; the budget vote by 2 December; the G20 of Miami of 14–15 December — the calendar as it stands |
Records & firsts
| The lowest birth rate on Earth | A total fertility rate of 0.72 in 2023, the lowest any country has recorded, 0.80 in 2025; Seoul's 0.58 (2024) the lowest of any capital |
|---|---|
| The fastest aging | From an "aged" society (7% over 65) in 2000 to "super-aged" (20%) on 23 December 2024 — 24 years, against France's 154 and Japan's 36; the median age 46.8 |
| From aid to donor | The first country to go from a recipient of aid (US$12.7 billion between 1945 and 1999) to a member of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (1 January 2010) |
| The memory of the world | Samsung Electronics and SK hynix the two largest makers of memory chips, SK hynix the leader in the HBM of the AI age — chip exports of US$173.4 billion in 2025 and US$46.65 billion in the single month of August 2026; the record monthly exports of US$98.25 billion |
| The ships | HD Hyundai Heavy Industries of Ulsan the largest shipbuilder of the world, with Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy the builders of most of the world's LNG carriers; the Ulsan car plant of Hyundai the largest single automobile plant on Earth |
| The gateways | Incheon International Airport, opened 2001, the fastest hub to a billion passengers, 74.07 million in 2025; the Gimpo–Jeju route the busiest air route of the world; Busan the seventh container port and the second transshipment hub after Singapore |
| The wires | The first commercial 5G network of the world on 3 April 2019; fiber to nine homes in ten and speeds among the fastest measured; the Seoul Metropolitan Subway among the longest and busiest systems on Earth |
| The oldest metal type | The Jikji of 1377, printed at Heungdeoksa in Cheongju, the oldest extant book printed with movable metal type, 78 years before Gutenberg; the Tripitaka Koreana of 81,258 blocks of 1236–51 at Haeinsa; the Joseon Annals of 472 years |
| An alphabet with a birthday | Hangul, created by King Sejong in 1443 and promulgated on 9 October 1446, the only major script whose maker and date are known, with its own holiday, Hangul Day |
| The screens | "Parasite," the first non-English film to win Best Picture (9 February 2020); "Squid Game," Netflix's most-watched series; "Gangnam Style," the first video to a billion views (2012); BTS the biggest band of the 2020s; "KPop Demon Hunters" of 2025 Netflix's most-watched film |
| The Nobels | Kim Dae-jung, the Peace Prize of 2000; Han Kang, the Literature Prize of 10 October 2024, the first Asian woman laureate in literature |
| The presidencies | Two presidents removed by the Constitutional Court (Park Geun-hye, 10 March 2017; Yoon Suk Yeol, 4 April 2025), the first sitting president arrested (15 January 2025), the first woman president (2013), three former presidents jailed for coups or insurrection (Chun, Roh, Yoon), the presidential office that moved out of and back into Cheong Wa Dae in the same decade |
| The Secretary-General | Ban Ki-moon, the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations (2007–16); the first host of the G20 in Asia (Seoul, 2010); the first Asian country to host a Winter Olympics after Japan (PyeongChang 2018) |
| The sea walls | The Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station of 2011, the largest of the world at 254 MW; the Saemangeum seawall of 33.9 km of 2010, the longest |
| The index | The KOSPI from 4,000 to 9,000 in eight months (27 October 2025 to 18 June 2026), the record 9,385.59 of 19 June 2026, the fall of 27% in 24 days — the wildest year of any major market |
| The bows | The women's archery team of ten Olympic golds in a row (1988–2024) and Korea's 32 golds in archery, the most of any nation in the sport; the World Cup semifinal of 2002, the first by an Asian side |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of South Korea?
The Republic of Korea — Daehan Minguk (대한민국) in Korean, "the Great Han Republic": "Han" from the Samhan, the three confederacies of the south of the peninsula in the centuries around the turn of the era, "Daehan," "Great Han," the name the Korean Empire took on 13 October 1897 in place of Joseon, and "Minguk," "people's state," the republic the Provisional Government of Shanghai chose on 11 April 1919 and the Constitution of 17 July 1948 kept. "Korea" is the West's word for Goryeo, the kingdom of 918 to 1392 whose name the Arab and Italian merchants carried home — "Cauli" in Marco Polo, "Corea" in the Portuguese of the 1500s — and "South" is the world's way of telling the republic of 1948 from the Democratic People's Republic of the North; the South calls itself "Hanguk," the North "Joseon," each with its own name for the other. It is the country of the Taegukgi of 1883, of Hangul, of Samsung and the KTX, and of the lowest birth rate on Earth.
What is the capital of South Korea?
Seoul — the special city on the Han River, the capital since the Joseon kings made Hanyang their seat on 28 October 1394, the city of Gyeongbokgung and the four palaces, Namsan, Gangnam and the 27 bridges of the Han; about 9.3 million people in the city proper (10 million from 1988 to 2016) and about 26.4 million, 50.9% of the whole nation by the census of 2025, in the capital region with Incheon and Gyeonggi province around it. The President works at Cheong Wa Dae, the "Blue House" below Bugaksan, since the office moved back on 29 December 2025 after 1,330 days at Yongsan; the National Assembly sits on Yeouido, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court in Seocho and Jongno. Most of the ministries left in 2012 for Sejong, the special self-governing city 120 km south built to be the administrative capital after the Constitutional Court ruled in 2004 that the capital itself, by "customary constitution," is Seoul. Busan (about 3.2 million), Incheon (3.0 million), Daegu (2.3 million), Daejeon, Gwangju, Suwon and Ulsan follow.
How big is South Korea, and how many people live there?
About 100,000 km² (38,792 sq mi) — 100,472 km², the 107th country of the world by area, the size of Iceland or of Kentucky, the southern 45% of the Korean Peninsula below the Military Demarcation Line of 1953, with the Yellow Sea to the west, the East Sea (Sea of Japan) to the east and the Korea Strait to Japan in the south, about 3,400 islands, Jeju the largest. The register-based census of 1 November 2025 counted 51.82 million people, 49.71 million of them Korean nationals and 2.11 million foreign residents, a record 4.1%; the count rose 0.02% in 2025 on immigration alone, for deaths have outnumbered births since 2020, the fertility rate is 0.80, the lowest of any country, and the median age is 46.8 with 20.7% of the people 65 and over, the "super-aged" society since December 2024. About 516 people to the square kilometer, among the densest of the large nations, half of them in the capital region; 95.9% Korean by nationality, one of the most homogeneous of nations; by the census of 2015 56% of no religion, 20% Protestant, 16% Buddhist, 8% Catholic.
What are the highest and lowest points of South Korea?
Hallasan, 1,947 m (6,388 ft), the shield volcano that is Jeju Island, with the crater lake Baengnokdam in its summit and the lava tubes of the World Heritage listing of 2007 on its flanks — 1,950 m by the older figure the encyclopedias still carry, 1,947.06 m by the survey of 2016 (both stated); Jirisan, 1,915 m, the highest of the mainland, at the southern end of the Sobaek range and the first national park of 1967; Seoraksan, 1,708 m, in the Taebaek range of the east coast; Taebaeksan, 1,567 m; Bukhansan, 836 m, above Seoul. Baekdusan, 2,744 m, the sacred mountain of the anthem's first line, stands on the North's border with China, and the highest point of the whole peninsula is not in the South. The lowest point is the sea, on the 2,413 km of coast from the Han estuary and the DMZ on the Yellow Sea around the ria coast of the southwest and its thousands of islands to the straight shore of the East Sea, with the reclaimed flats of Saemangeum behind the 33.9-km seawall of 2010, the longest of the world, lying below it. About 70% of the land is mountain; the mean elevation is about 282 m.
What currency does South Korea use?
The won (ISO code KRW, ₩), issued by the Bank of Korea of 12 June 1950 — the won of 10 June 1962 that replaced the hwan at 100 to one, after the hwan of 1953 had replaced the first won of 1945 at 100 to one; notes of ₩1,000 (the scholar Yi Hwang), ₩5,000 (Yi I), ₩10,000 (King Sejong) and, since 2009, ₩50,000 (Shin Saimdang, the painter and Yi I's mother, the first woman on a Korean note), coins to ₩500, the jeon of a hundredth never coined. The won floats: about 1,360 to the U.S. dollar in late September 2026, after 1,411.8 on 18 August and 1,336.1 on 9 September, the Fed's rise of 16 September pulling it back toward 1,400. The Bank of Korea's base rate is 3.00% since 27 August 2026, raised twice in the summer of 2026 (to 2.75% on 16 July, the first rise in three years, and to 3.00% by six votes to one) against inflation of 3.1% in August 2026 and the chip boom; the KOSPI of the Korea Exchange, the most volatile of the major indexes of 2026 by its swings, ran from 4,000 on 27 October 2025 to 9,385.59 on 19 June 2026, fell 27% by 13 July and closed at 7,007.72 on 21 September 2026. Clocks keep Korea Standard Time, UTC+9, all year; South Korea drives on the right.
Who governs South Korea?
A presidential republic under the Constitution of 29 October 1987, the Sixth Republic: the President, directly elected for a single five-year term, is head of state and of government and commander in chief, names a Prime Minister with the National Assembly's consent and a State Council of ministers; the National Assembly of 300, elected for four years, makes the laws; the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court sit above. On 27 September 2026 the President is Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, in office since 4 June 2025 after the snap election of 3 June 2025 (49.42%) that followed the martial law of 3 December 2024 and the removal of Yoon Suk Yeol by the Constitutional Court on 4 April 2025; Han Seong-sook, the former head of Naver, is Prime Minister since 1 July 2026, the second woman in the post, after Kim Min-seok left it to be elected the party's chair on 17 August 2026; Lee Hyoung-il is the deputy prime minister for the economy since 22 September 2026, Cho Hyun the foreign minister, Kang Shin-chul the defense minister, Cho Jeong-sik the Speaker since 5 June 2026 and Cho Hee-dae the Chief Justice. The Democratic Party holds about 161 of the 300 seats to the People Power Party's 109, and swept the local elections of 3 June 2026 but for Seoul, where Oh Se-hoon won a fifth term. Lee's approval stood at 37% in the Gallup Korea poll of 16–18 September 2026 after the reshuffle of 30 August lost two of its six nominees; he said on 19 September that he seeks no second term. The next Assembly election is due by 12 April 2028 and the next presidential election in the spring of 2030.
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