root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle,
pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish catch of 2.9 million metric tons,
seventh largest in world

Exports: $125.4 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities: electronic and electrical equipment, machinery, steel,
automobiles, ships; textiles, clothing, footwear; fish
partners: US 19%, Japan 14%, EU 13%

Imports: $135.1 billion (c.i.f., 1995)
commodities: machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil,
steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic chemicals, grains
partners: Japan 24%, US 22%, EU 13%

External debt: $77 billion (1995 est.)

Economic aid: $NA

Currency: 1 South Korean won (W) = 100 chun (theoretical)

Exchange rates: South Korean won (W) per US$1 - 787.27 (January
1996), 771.27 (1995), 803.45 (1994), 802.67 (1993), 780.65 (1992),
733.35 (1991)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Transportation
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Railways:
total: 3,101 km
standard gauge: 3,081 km 1.435-m gauge (560 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 20 km 0.762-m gauge

Highways:
total: 61,296 km
paved: 51,918 km (including 1,550 km of expressways)
unpaved: 9,378 km (1993)

Waterways: 1,609 km; use restricted to small native craft

Pipelines: petroleum products 455 km

Ports: Chinhae, Inch'on, Kunsan, Masan, Mokp'o, Pohang, Pusan,
Ulsan, Yosu

Merchant marine:
total: 428 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,076,981
GRT/9,822,089 DWT
ships by type: bulk 124, cargo 122, chemical tanker 21, combination
bulk 3, combination ore/oil 1, container 59, liquefied gas tanker
12, multifunction large-load carrier 1, oil tanker 61, refrigerated
cargo 13, short-sea passenger 1, vehicle carrier 10
note: South Korea owns an additional 231 ships (1,000 GRT or over)
totaling 10,128,506 DWT operating under the registries of Panama,
Liberia, Cyprus, Malta, The Bahamas, and Thailand (1995 est.)

Airports:
total: 105
with paved runways over 3 047 m: 1
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 20
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 13
with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 14
with paved runways under 914 m: 54
with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 3 (1995 est.)

Heliports: 201 (1995 est.)

Communications
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Telephones: 16.6 million (1993)

Telephone system: excellent domestic and international services
domestic: NA
international: fiber-optic submarine cable to China; satellite earth
stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Pacifi