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IN THE FIRST THREE decades after the Park Chung Hee government launched the First Five-Year Economic Development Plan in 1962, the South Korean economy grew enormously and the economic structure was radically transformed. South Korea's real gross national product (GNP) expanded by an average of more than 8 percent per year, from US$2.3 billion in 1962 to US$204 billion in 1989. Per capita annual income grew from US$87 in 1962 to US$4,830 in 1989. The manufacturing sector grew from 14.3 percent of the GNP in 1962 to 30.3 percent in 1987. Commodity trade volume rose from US$480 million in 1962 to a projected US$127.9 billion in 1990. The ratio of domestic savings to GNP grew from 3.3 percent in 1962 to 35.8 percent in 1989.

Government type: republic

15 August 1945 (from Japan)

Economy - overview:

Gross domestic product grew 0.7% from the previous quarter, down from the 1.6% expansion seen at the end of 2007. Falling exports were largely to blame for the quarterly slowdown along with weak consumer spending. President Lee Myung-bak took office in February promising to boost annual growth to 7% - it grew 5% in 2007. The investment bank Goldman Sachs said it was keeping its growth forecast for the full year at 4.8% despite the weak quarterly figures. It predicted the government's programme of tax-cuts and deregulation would boost growth while the weak currency would help exporters. Inflation figures were also released on Friday, with consumer prices rising 3.9% in the year to the end of March. That figure is above the government's target of between 2.5% and 3.5% for the fourth month running.

Japan's surrender to the Allied Powers in 1945, signaling the end of World War II, only further embroiled Korea in foreign rivalries.

Ensure that you have applied for your absentee ballot using the hard copy or on-line versions of the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) form

(4) Make sure your local election official has your current mailing address.

(8) Register to vote and request your ballot in a timely manner - not later than September 2008.

The Korean public education structure is divided into three parts: six years of primary school, followed by three years of middle school and then three years of high school

The primary curriculum consists of nine principal subjects: moral education, Korean language, social studies, mathematics, science, physical education, music, fine arts, and practical arts.

High schools are divided into academic and vocational schools

In dollar terms, import prices grew 18.7 percent in January, with export prices gaining 3.5 percent, the BOK said.

The local currency fell 0.8 percent against the greenback in January from a month earlier. The price of Dubai crude, Korea’s benchmark, jumped 69 percent in January compared to a year earlier. South Korea is the world’s fourth-largest crude buyer.Raw material costs surged 48.7 percent year-on-year mainly due to higher oil prices while the prices of intermediate goods rose 10.6 percent in January, the BOK said.