rials and technology at the expense of consumer goods and
encouraged savings and investment over consumption. The Asian
financial crisis of 1997-99 exposed certain longstanding weaknesses
in South Korea's development model, including high debt/equity
ratios, massive foreign borrowing, and an undisciplined financial
sector. By 1999 GDP growth had recovered, reversing the substantial
decline of 1998. Seoul has pressed the country's largest business
groups to restructure and to strengthen their financial base. Growth
in 2001 likely will be a more sustainable rate of 5%.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $764.6 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 9% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $16,100 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 5.6%

industry: 41.4%

services: 53% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%:
2.9%

highest 10%: 24.3% (1993)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.3% (2000)

Labor force: 22 million (2000)

Labor force - by occupation: services 68%, industry 20%, agriculture
12% (1999)

Unemployment rate: 4.1% (2000 est.)

Budget: revenues: $81.8 billion

expenditures: $94.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $6.1
billion (1999)

Industries: electronics, automobile production, chemicals,
shipbuilding, steel, textiles, clothing, footwear, food processing

Industrial production growth rate: 17% (2000)

Electricity - production: 250.287 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 59.22%

hydro: 1.64%

nuclear: 39.12%

other: 0.02% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 232.767 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit;
cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish

Exports: $172.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Exports - commodities: electronic products, machinery and equipment,
motor vehicles, steel, ships; textiles, clothing, footwear; fish

Exports - partners: US 20.5%, Japan 11%, China 9.5%, Hong Kong 6.3%,
Taiwan 4.4% (1999)

Imports: $160.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports - commodities: machinery, electronics and electronic
equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic
chemicals, grains

Imports - partners: US 20.8%, Japan 20.2%, China 7.4%, Saudi Arabia
4.7%, Australia 3.9% (1999)

Debt -