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General View of Korean Economy

1) Land

The Korean peninsula extends southward from the north eastern section of the vast Asian continent, spanning 1,000km north to south. It shares most of its northern border with China and touches Russia. Since 1948, the peninsula has been divided into two parts, the Republic of Korea in the south and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north.

The Korean peninsula is 222,154km², almost the same size as the U.K. or Romania. The administrative area of the Republic of Korea is 99,392km², slightly larger than Hungary or Portugal and a little smaller than Iceland.

Korea has a varied terrain, though about 70% of the territory are mountainous. The spectacular T'aebaek mountains run the full lengths of the east coast, where the lashing tides of the East Sea, have carved out sheer cliffs and rocky islets. The western and southern slopes are very gentle, forming plains and many shore-line is dotted with over 3,000 islands.

Considering the size of its territory, Korea has a relatively large number of rivers and streams that have played important roles in developing industries and lifestyles. The Yellow Sea, lying between Korea and the People's Republic of China, and the ocean south of the peninsula from a continental shelf with the shallow sea floor providing valuable resources for the fishing industry. Surrounding the peninsula on three sides, the sea has played a remarkable role in Korean life since ancient times, contributing to the early development of shipbuilding and navigation skills. In recent years, the seabed off the south-western coast has been explored for petroleum deposits (Korean Overseas Information Service, 1995; 5-7).

Korea enjoys four seasons and a variety of different weather types. Located in the East Asian monsoon belt, the peninsula has hot, humid summers and long, dry, cold winters. Spring and autumn are rather short, but very pleasant with crisp weather and many days of sunshine. Temperatures range from a low of -15℃ (5℉) in winter to a high of 34.7℃ (94.5℉) in summer. The three months of June, July and August have the heaviest rains, with July usually being the wettest month of the year. Winter starts in late November and lasts until early March. It is dominated by a high pressure zone caused by cold blasts of air from Siberia. There is little precipitation and the skies are usually clear. Winter in South Korea is generally not as severe as it is in the North (ibid; 8-9).

2) People and Population

The Koreans one ethnic family speaking one language. Linguistic and anthropological studies as well as legendary sources clearly distinguish Koreans from the Chinese and the Japanese. Sharing distinct physical characteristics, they are believed to be descendants of several Mongol tribes which migrated onto the Korean Peninsula from Central Asia.

Koreans were homogeneous people by the beginning of the Christian era. In the seventh century A.D., they were politically unified for the first time by the Shilla Kingdom (57 BC - AD 935) and subsequently witnesses a great cultural flowering. The Korean people struggled successfully for millennia to maintain their cultural and political identity despite the influence of neighboring China and the more recent aggressive inclinations of the Japanese. They are proud people with one of the longest national histories in the world.

The Republic of Korea had a population of 44.5 million in 1994 and registered a density of 447 persons per square kilometer. The population of North Korea was 23.5 million in 1994. Minority groups are almost nonexistent in Korea, apart from some 30,000 Chinese whom are mostly long-term residents in the capital area (ibid; 9-11).

Members of Korea-Yemen Center Visited Embassed of the Republic of Yemen on September 8, 1997 and Talked with New Charge d'Affaires, Shaif Badr Adbula

This publication is consisted of  Korean, English, Arabic and the other languages concerned. The contents of the newsletter do not necessarily reflect either the position or the views of KYC.

也門 消息 KYC Newsletter  Publisher: Dr. Seong Min HONG, President , Editor: Dr. Joo Heon Kang, Director of Research, KYC.

Kwanak P.O. Box 49, Seoul151-600, Korea, Tel: 82-2-876-4249, Fax: 82-2-876-4349. Copyright ⓒ 1997-2008 KYC. All rights reserved.