last held 18 December 1997 (next
to be held 19 December 2002); prime minister appointed by the president;
deputy prime ministers appointed by the president on the prime minister's
recommendation election results: KIM Dae-jung elected president; percent
of vote - KIM Dae-jung (MDP) 40.3% (with ULD partnership), YI Hoe-chang
(GNP) 38.7%, YI In-che (NPP) 19.2%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Kukhoe (273 seats
total - 227 elected by direct, popular vote; members serve four-year
terms); note - beginning in 2004, all members will be directly elected;
possible redistricting before 2004 may affect the number of seats in the
National Assembly elections: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by
party - GNP 133, MDP 115, ULD 17, other 8; note - the distribution of
seats as of January 2002 is: Judicial branch: Supreme Court (justices
are appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly)

Political parties and leaders: Democratic People's Party or DPP [CHO
Sun, chairman]; Grand National Party or GNP [YI Hoe-chang, president];
Millennium Democratic Party or MDP [leader NA]; United Liberal Democrats
or ULD [KIM Chong-p'il, honorary chairman, KIM Chong-ho, acting president]
note: on 20 January 2000, the National Congress for New Politics or NCNP
was renamed the Millennium Democratic Party or MDP

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

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,
IEA (observer), IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, 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, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador YANG
Song-chol chancery: 2450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
consulate(s) general: Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu,
Houston, Los