mmit took place between the south's President KIM Dae-jung and the
north's leader KIM Chong-il. In December 2000, President KIM Dae-jung
won the Noble Peace Prize for his lifelong commitment to democracy and
human rights in Asia. He is the first Korean to win a Nobel Prize.

Geography Korea, South

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

Geographic coordinates: 37 00 N, 127 30 E

Map references: Asia

Area: total: 98,480 sq km land: 98,190 sq km water: 290 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Indiana

Land boundaries: total: 238 km border countries: North Korea 238 km

Coastline: 2,413 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 NM territorial sea: 12 NM; between
3 NM and 12 NM in the Korea Strait continental shelf: not specified
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

Climate: temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter

Terrain: mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west
and south

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m highest point:
Halla-san 1,950 m

Natural resources: coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead,
hydropower potential

Land use: arable land: 17% permanent crops: 2% other: 81% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 11,590 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods;
low-level seismic activity common in southwest

Environment - current issues: air pollution in large cities; acid rain;
water pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents;
drift net fishing

Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but
not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: strategic location on Korea Strait

People Korea, South

Population: 48.324 million (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 21.4% (male 5,488,808; female 4,875,379)
15-64 years: 71% (male 17,404,645; female 16,894,361) 65 years and over:
7.6% (male 1,434,873; female 2,225,934) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.85% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 14.55 births/1,000 population (2002