maritime disputes with South over
the Northern Limit Line; North Korea supports South Korea in
rejecting Japan's claim to Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do/Take-shima)

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 50,000-250,000 (government repression and famine) (2004)

Illicit drugs:
for years, from the 1970's into the 2000's, citizens of the
Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea (DPRK), many of them
diplomatic employees of the government, were apprehended abroad
while trafficking in narcotics, including two in Turkey in December
2004; in recent years, police investigations in Taiwan and Japan
have linked North Korea to large illicit shipments of heroin and
methamphetamine, including an attempt by the North Korean merchant
ship Pong Su to deliver 150 kg of heroin to Australia in April 2003;
all indications point to North Korea emerging as an important
regional source of illicit drugs targeting markets in Japan, Taiwan,
the Russian Far East, and China

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

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@Korea, South

Introduction Korea, South

Background:
Korea was an independent kingdom under Chinese suzerainty for most
of the past millennium. Following its victory in the Russo-Japanese
War in 1905, Japan occupied Korea; five years later it formally
annexed the entire peninsula. After World War II, a republic was set
up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a
Communist-style government was installed in the north. During the
Korean War (1950-53), US and other UN forces intervened to defend
South Korea from North Korean attacks supported by the Chinese. An
armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a
demilitarized zone at about the 38th parallel. Thereafter, South
Korea achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising
to roughly 14 times the level of North Korea. In 1987, South Korean
voters elected ROH Tae-woo to the presidency, ending 26 years of
military dictatorships. South Korea today is a fully functioning
modern democracy. In June 2000, a historic first North-South summit
took place between the South's President KIM Tae-chung and the
North's leader KIM Jong Il.

Geography Korea, South

Location:
Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the
Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea

Geographi