South Korea,
CSO Factpage
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Country name: |
Conventional
long form: Republic
of Korea |
South Korea, has a
government that is a Republic. This type of Republic has powers shared between
the president and the legislature. The separation of power between the
legislature, executive and judicial is as follows: -
1. Branches: Executive--president
(chief of state).
2. Legislative--unicameral
National Assembly.
3. Judicial--Supreme
Court and appellate courts; Constitutional Court.
The President acts as the chief of state and is elected for a term of 5 years. The Unicameral National Aseembly consists of 273 members, which are elected to a 4-year term. South Korea’s judicial system comprises of a Supreme Court, appellate courts, and a Constitutional Court. The people that are involved in the different branch of powers of South Korea are: -
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Executive branch: |
chief of
state: President KIM
Dae-jung (since 25 February 1998) For the full
list of South Korean government officials, please refer to the list at the
end of the page |
|
Legislative branch: |
unicameral
National Assembly or Kukhoe (273 seats total - 227 elected by direct, popular
vote; members serve four-year terms) |
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Judicial branch: |
South Korean legal system combines elements of continental European civil law systems,
Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought. Supreme Court (justices
are appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly) |
South Korea is divided into 9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 7 metropolitan cities* (gwangyoksi, singular and plural); Cheju-do, Cholla-bukto, Cholla-namdo, Ch'ungch'ong-bukto, Ch'ungch'ong-namdo, Inch'on-gwangyoksi*, Kangwon-do, Kwangju-gwangyoksi*, Kyonggi-do, Kyongsang-bukto, Kyongsang-namdo, Pusan-gwangyoksi*, Soul-t'ukpyolsi*, Taegu-gwangyoksi*, Taejon-gwangyoksi*, Ulsan-gwangyoksi. In short, the metropolitan cities can also be divided as Seoul, Pusan, Inchon, Taegu, Kwangju, and Taejon It also consists of many different political party such as Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) – ruling party at current time; Grand National Party (GNP); United Liberal Democrats (ULD); Democratic People's Party. People have the right to vote at the age of 20 years old.
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Political parties and leaders: |
Grand National
Party or GNP [YI Hoe-chang, president]; Millennium Democratic Party or MDP
[KIM Dae-jung, president]; United Liberal Democrats or ULD [KIM
Chong-p'il, honorary chairman, KIM Chong-ho, acting president] |
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Political pressure groups and leaders: |
Federation of Korean
Industries; Federation of Korean Trade Unions; Korean Confederation of Trade
Unions; Korean National Council of Churches; Korean Traders Association;
Korean Veterans' Association; National Council of Labor Unions; National
Democratic Alliance of Korea; National Federation of Farmers' Associations;
National Federation of Student Associations |
South Korean political history has always been skeptical because
of the many invasions that they had to encounter including Japan, China and
influences of USA (in the south) and Soviet Union (to the north). However,
South Korean politics took a severe change by the 1988 legislative elections,
in the Assembly's greater powers under the 1987 constitution, and the influence
of public opinion. After 1987 there was significant political liberalization,
including greater freedom of the press, greater freedoms of expression and
assembly, and the restoration of the civil rights of former detainees. The new
opposition-dominated National Assembly quickly challenged the president's
prerogatives.
The trend toward greater democratization continued. In free and
fair elections in December 1992, Kim Young Sam, the former opposition leader
who joined the ruling party of Roh Tae Woo, received 43% of the vote and became
Korea's first civilian president in nearly 30 years. In June 1995, Korea held
direct elections for local and provincial executive officials (mayors,
governors, county and ward chiefs) for the first time in more than 30 years. In
August 1996, ex-Presidents Chun and Roh were convicted on corruption and
treason charges but were pardoned by President Kim Young Sam in December 1997.
Kim Dae-jung of the National Congress for New Politics (NCNP) won
the December 1997 presidential election, defeating Lee Hoi-chang of the renamed
ruling party, the Grand National Party (GNP), and the New Party for the People
(NPP) candidate Rhee In-je. Kim's 1997 win was the first true opposition party
victory in a Korean presidential election. Kim had previously been a political
prisoner who narrowly escaped assassination and execution on several occasions,
and who spent time in exile in Japan and the U.S. Kim's political opponents
have long charged that he was sympathetic to the D.P.R.K., most recently during
his presidential election campaign. Such charges are rooted more firmly in
Korea's no-holds-barred political culture than in fact.
President Kim's relations with the opposition have often been
contentious, reflecting both substantive disagreements with the opposition and
the strongly partisan flavor of R.O.K. domestic politics. The GNP remains the
largest-single party in the National Assembly. However, in January 2001,
President Kim's party, renamed the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP),
re-entered into a coalition with the conservative United Liberal Democrats
(ULD) led by former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil. With the MDP-ULD coalition and
a commitment from the Democratic People's Party to vote with the coalition,
President Kim was able to establish a working plurality in the Assembly in late
February 2001.
On his inauguration in February 1998, Kim enunciated an engagement
policy toward the North based on the separation of economic and political
issues yet taking a firm line on security, with zero tolerance for provocations
from the D.P.R.K. This approach has been maintained despite strong domestic
criticism from the opposition GNP and occasional provocative behavior by the
D.P.R.K., including attempted infiltrations into the South and a clash between
D.P.R.K. and R.O.K. naval ships in the Yellow Sea in June 1999, during which
several North Korean vessels were damaged or sunk. In 2000, Kim was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize for his commitment to democracy and his efforts toward
reconciliation with the North.
From June 13 to 15, 2000, the leaders of the two Koreas held a
historic meeting in Pyongyang and signed a joint declaration promising a visit
to Seoul by Kim Jong Il, continuing government-to-government dialogue, reunion
of separated family members, cultural exchanges, and the pursuit of
reunification. Following the June summit, contacts between the two sides
increased, fulfilling some of the meeting's commitments. In addition, four
ministerial-level meetings were held, and liaison offices in the truce village
of Panmunjom, were reopened on August 14. On September 18, the R.O.K. held a
groundbreaking ceremony for the relinking of the Seoul-Sinuiju railway line,
which would cross through the Demilitarized Zone. The defense ministers from
the R.O.K. and the D.P.R.K. met for the first time September 25-26 on Cheju
Island in South Korea. In August and November 2000 and in February 2001, the
two Koreas sent delegations of 100 members of separated families to each
other's capitals for reunion meetings.
The Fifth
North-South Ministerial talks were held in Seoul September 15-18, 2001. The two
sides laid out a schedule of meetings, the Sixth Ministerial meeting among
others, focusing on implementation of earlier agreements as well as some
exchanges, including another round of reciprocal family reunions. South Korea (09/01)
South
Korea is also involved in various international organizations. This includes: -
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International organization participation: |
AfDB, APEC, ARF
(dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS,
CCC, CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA
(observer), IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer),
OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMOGIP,
UNOMIG, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
* Principal
Government Officials
President--Kim Dae-jung
Prime Minister--Lee Han-dong
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Human Resource
Development--Han Wan-sang
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy--Jin Nyum
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry--Kim Dong-tae
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy--Chang Che-shik
Minister of Construction and Transportation--Ahn Jung-nam
Minister of Culture and Tourism--Namkung Jin
Minister of Environment--Kim Myung-ja
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade--Han Seung-soo
Minister of Government Administration & Home Affairs--Lee Keun-sik
Minister of Health and Welfare--Kim Won-gil
Minister of Information and Communication--Yang Seung-taik
Minister of Justice--Choi Kyung-won
Minister of Labor Affairs--Yoo Yong-tae
Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries--Yu Sam-nam
Minister of National Defense--Kim Dong-shin
Minister of Science and Technology--Kim Young-hwan
Minister of Unification-- Hong Soon-young Minister of Gender Equality--Han
Myung-sook
Director General of National Intelligence Service--Shin Gunn
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