OVERVIEW OF SOUTH KOREA
WOOD, WILLY
09, JULY, 2015
Introduction
This paper is an analysis of the country of South Korea. Using the operational variables of PMESII-PT this paper will identify the current situation in South Korea and the countries current issues. The overall objective is to understand the motives of South Korea.
Political
The Republic of Korea has a liberal democratic political system. South Koreas political foundation resides in the sovereignty of the people and the responsibility to maintain every citizen’s welfare. Currently the president of South Korea is Park Geun-hye. The 11th and first female president was elected on February 25th, 2013. With Korea’s limited 5 year presidency she has until
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The northern border is known as the DMZ (demilitarized zone) it is the most heavily armed border in the world. At 2.5 miles wide and 150-miles long the heavily mined and guarded area has served as a buffer zone since the cease fire in 1953.(3) The united States helps to guard the DMZ and protect the ROK with approximately 30,000 troops and an arsenal of military equipment. The country of South Korea is unable to maintain their own Nuclear weapons and relies on the US Militaries nuclear weapons program to match North Koreas Nuclear weapons program. Although the ROK army is well equipped and well trained it lacks the sheer numbers and nuclear capabilities to match North Korea. Therefore the ROK relies heavily on the United States military assistance. However with the ROK’s consistent progression and strong economy it’s only a matter of time before the ROK will no longer need the help of the USA. (4)
Economic
The ROC has the 12th largest economy in the world and is the 3rd largest in Asia. After world WII the ROC was one of the poorest countries in Asia and its economy was designed solely to the needs of Japan. The ROC was also dependent on US aid. In 1962 a coup led by General Park Chung-hee started a series of ambitious economic development. This resulted in an economic shift to vastly more foreign trade normalizing their economic relations with Japan.
Since the 1950’s North Korea has posed as dangerous threat to The United States and its allies. With North Korea development of Nuclear arms and its consistent hostile rhetoric and actions towards the United States. With the North Korea’s development of a long range ICBM, more now than ever the United States has been put into a position where its and many of its
Previously, the United States had created a defense perimeter that bordered Korea in order to protect Japan from communism. The US saw North Korea’s invasion as a direct threat so the country immediately sent 250,000 men to try to reunify Korea. Near the beginning of the conflict, North Korea pushed the South Koreans all the way to the southern border of Korea with the help of Soviet soldiers. In response the United States sent more soldiers and began nuclear threats. We were able to push North Korea back across the original border and end the conflict with a
The U.S. helped to divide the Korean peninsula at the end of World War II, and then waged war against North Korea in the 1950s. Although the U.S. signed a peace agreement rather than a peace treaty with North Korea after the war, its policy toward the country changed. Instead of trying to overthrow the North Korea government, the U.S. government adopted a policy of containing communism. During the 1980’s, associations between North Korea and the U.S. start to take on a new diplomatic form. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program had become a pressing international issue
The Korean peninsula has been a volatile area since the end of World War II. Today it is the last example of a single nation divided between two states, represents the longest division of ideologies, and is the archetype of enduring Cold War symptoms. Although small in size, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been the biggest obstacle to regional stability in Asia, its militant and hostile policies posing a threat not only to western aligned nations, but also to its former and present benefactors, Russia and China. This dangerous country represents a very important target for the United States’ Intelligence Community, an extremely difficult one to exploit, but one that cannot be ignored as North Korea’s ambitions
Military Demarcation Line within the 4 kilometer wide Demilitarized Zone has separated the North from South Korea since 1953. Risking arrest, imprisonment and
South Korea and the United States have different ideas on a lot of things. Looking into South Korea’s way of life puts a different perspective on how someone across the world lives their life a little differently than me, even though they could be in the same financial state. My research will look at the comparison of their family and social life, Government, Religion, education, economy and health care,and how it differs from the U.S. The U.S. Population is 318.9 million and South Korea’s 50.22 million. The life expectancy in South Korea is 81.37 years old, and The US doesn’t differ much with it being 78.74 years old. There is a lot less free time in South Korea with people working an average of 2071 hours and here an average of 1788 hours. The unemployment rate there is also a lot smaller than here with there being all kinds of jobs for any level of work experience. South Korea has gone through a great economic rise in the last 50 years going from one of the poorest countries to the fifteenth largest economies.
In the 1980’s South Korea began to transition to a democratic system. Its values based on common values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law such as the United States. Now under a successful democracy, the daughter of former president of South Korea Park Geun-Hye was elected as the first female president in South Korean history. (BBC News December 9, 2016) Park Geun Hye job is at risk due to a growing corruption scandal. Park, whose approval ratings are only four percent is now facing possible impeachment by South Korea’s legislative if she doesn’t resign first. Oren Dorell of USA Today
South Korea was well under direct U.S. influence ever since the establishment of the Republic of Korea, and were always advised and kept in check to practice democratic ways. The United States, in trade of great monetary and economic assistance, were in control of many aspects of Korea’s politics, and so had a lot of power to direct South Korea in a way that is in line with its democratic ideologies. But even with such direct influence, the U.S. had major ‘bumps’ with instilling democracy in Korea, most notably with Park and Chun’s reigns that would not have ended without civil protest (the U.S. were often powerless in stopping these rulers’ authoritarian practices). Therefore, given China and its strong connection with communist nations such as the Soviet Union, it would be very difficult for the East Asian nation to even consider the idea of democratizing, especially given that they have been fairing well economically in the recent
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, usually known as North Korea, is a state that occupies the northern half of the Korean peninsula. North Korea is a relatively new state, founded in 1948 because of the postcolonial settlement handed down by the United States of America and the Soviet Union (USSR). In 1945, the U.S. and the USSR replaced the Japanese as the responsible bodies and this division of responsibility caused the establishment of the Soviet north and the American south. During its inception North Korea regarded as a satellite state of the USSR; however because of the fall of the
Since their independence from Japan in 1945, there has been great strife between the communist Koreans and the democratic Koreans. After the two sides went to war, aided by Russia and the U.S.A respectively, they split the nation along the 38th parallel. Since the 1950’s the southern, democratic, state has flourished into one of the most highly developed nations in Asia. The communist, northern, Koreans have been under the microscope of the American people. Kim Il-Sung, the people’s popular leader of the communist party, allied himself with powerful communist nations: The USSR and China, primarily. The northern state has diminished into a militarized dictatorship. This militant nation has subjected
Since the end of the Korean War, the DMZ (de-militarized zone) has been maintained. The U.S. has 45,000 troops stationed in South Korea. Today, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Il is trying to complete his goal of having nuclear weapons that he can launch into South Korea, Japan, or even the U.S. The U.S. is trying to get China, North Korea’s biggest trading partner and ally, to stop Kim Jong Il’s nuclear aggression. Japan and South Korea are two of America’s closest allies, and any attack on either of those countries will be perceived as an attack on the U.S., so our diplomas are working hard to avoid nuclear war, which could kill millions of
At the end of World War II, Korea was a poor former agricultural colony of Japan. But the rapid growth of Korea’s industrial economy has been remarkable. The economy of South Korea is now the third-largest in Asia and the 13th largest in the world by GDP as of 2007. To trace back the economic development of South Korea, the former president Park Chung-Hee played a pivotal role, and was credited for shifting its focus to export-oriented favoring a few large conglomerates. Unlike his predecessors, Park showed a strong commitment to economic development, believing good economic performance as a primary means for enhancing his political legitimacy. Under the President Park Chung-Hee’s era, the government played a dominating role in a
North Korea, formally known as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a relic of the Cold War and the world’s last remaining totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship. Arguably the most secretive state in the world, North Korea poses a unique set of challenges to the world, especially to its democratic and capitalist neighbor, South Korea, formally known as the Republic of Korea (ROK). As one of the last remnants of the Cold War era, North Korea remains an anomaly of the international system due to its unpredictable nature and disregard for international norms. With the recent bombardment of the South Korean Island of Yeongpyong and the sinking of the warship Cheonan, tensions between the two Koreas are at the lowest point since
South Korea has a liberal democratic government type. The liberal democratic government type can be described as a political ideology and a form of government in which representative democracy operates under the principles of liberalism. Overall, the government is stable despite one of the top issues of business complaints is dealing with political instability. South Korea has elections by popular vote for the President every five years. The Presidency is limited to one five year term. The government is also consistent because of the election frequency.
This amazing economic transformation of South Korea has made present-day developing and under developed nations in the