Two days before takeoff and I thought I'd share some information on The Republic of Korea......


National name: Taehan Min'guk

• President: Roh Moo Hyun (2003)
• Prime Minister: Han Duck Soo (2006)
• Land area: 37,911 sq mi (98,189 sq km)
• Population (2006 est.): 48,846,823; life expectancy: 77.0 years
• Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Seoul, 10,287,847 (city proper)
  Other large cities: Pusan, 3,504,900; Inchon, 2,479,600 (part of Seoul metro. area); Taegu, 2,369,800
• Monetary unit: Won
• Languages: Korean, English widely taught
• Ethnicity/race: homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese)
• Religions: no affiliation 46%, Christian 26%, Buddhist 26%, Confucianist 1%, other 1%
• Literacy rate: 98% (2003 est.)
• Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $965.3 billion; per capita $20,400. Arable land: 17%. Agriculture: rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish. Labor force: 23.53 million; agriculture 6.4%, industry 26.4%, services 67.2%. Industries: electronics, telecommunications, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, steel. Natural resources: coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower potential. Exports: $288.2 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): semiconductors, wireless telecommunications equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships, petrochemicals. Imports: $256 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, organic chemicals, plastics. Major trading partners: China, U.S., Japan, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia (2004).
• International disputes: Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; Liancourt Rocks (Take-shima/Tok-do) are disputed with Japan.