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| Official Name | Republic of Korea (ROK) |
| Land Area | 99,313 sq km |
| Population | 48.6 million |
| Capital City | Seoul |
| Religion | Christian 29%, Buddhist 23% |
| Language | Korean |
| Currency | South Korean Won |
| Exchange Rate | US$1 = KRW1,116 (as of 19 January 2011) |
| Political system | Presidential-style democracy with President elected for a single five-year term |
| National government | Grand National Party. State Council (cabinet) ministers appointed by President are not normally members of the National Assembly |
| National legislature | National Assembly, unicameral, 245 Parliamentary seats filled by direct election; 54 distributed between parties in proportion to their share of the vote (list MPs) |
| Last election | Presidential - December 2007, National Assembly - April 2008 |
| Next election due | Presidential - December 2012, National Assembly - April 2012 |
| Head of State | President - Lee Myung-bak |
| Head of Government | President - Lee Myung-bak |
| Key Ministers | Prime Minister – Kim Hwang-sik Foreign Affairs – Kim Sung-hwan Trade – Kim Jong-hoon Food, Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries – Yoo Jeong-bok National Defense – Kim Kwan-jin Strategy and Finance – Bahk Jae-wan Education, Science & Technology – Lee Ju-ho Knowledge Economy – Choi Joong-kyung Culture, Sports & Tourism – Choung Byoung-gug Environment – Yoo, Young Sook Unification – Hyun In-taek Justice – Lee Kwi-nam Health and Welfare – Chin Soo-hee Public Administration and Security – Maeng Hyung-kyu Employment and Labor – Lee Chae-bil Gender Equality and Family – Paik Hee-young |
| Main political parties | Grand National Party (GNP) Democratic Party (DP) Liberty Forward Party (LFP) |
| GDP | US$1,139 billion (KRW 1,242,593 billion) | ||||||
GNP breakdown GNP per capita |
US$31,419 (at PPP) |
||||||
| Real GDP growth | 4.2% | ||||||
| Exports | US$576 billion | ||||||
| Imports | US$528 billion | ||||||
| Main exports (KITA) |
Petroleum oils, ships and boats, motor cars and vehicles, electronic integrated circuits, liquid crystal devices, telephone sets | ||||||
| Current account | US$34 billion | ||||||
| Inflation | 4.1% | ||||||
| Gross external debt | US$418 billion | ||||||
| Budget balance | 4,433 billion KRW deficit as of March 2011 |
| NZ Exports to Korea (FOB) |
NZ$1,414 million |
| Main Exports | Wood (23%), aluminium (7%), meat (12%), dairy (10%) |
| NZ Imports from Korea (CIF) |
NZ$1,387 million |
| Main Imports | Petroleum oils/minerals (33%), motor vehicles (19%), electrical and other machinery (14%), plastics (5%) |
Source: World Trade Atlas.
The Korean Peninsula was governed by a number of Korean dynasties for more than a millennium until it was annexed by Japan in 1910 following the Russo-Japanese War, a legacy that still impacts on relations between both Koreas and Japan. Japan’s colonial rule over Korea ended when Japan was defeated in 1945, marking the end of the Second World War. Final days of Korea’s liberation coincided with the Cold War during which American and Soviet forces agreed that their zones of occupation would meet at the 38th parallel. This became the dividing line between the newly independent countries, North and South Korea, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) respectively, in 1948. On 25 June, 1950, the DPRK invaded the ROK. Following a United Nations’ call on member nations to support the ROK, a 16-member coalition undertook the first collective action under United Nations Command. Korean War hostilities ended on 27 July 1953 with the signing of an Armistice Agreement. A Military Demarcation Line in the centre of a 4km-wide De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) has served as the border since then.
The institutions of liberal democracy have been consolidated in the ROK since it held its first democratic elections in 1987, with the degree of pluralism in politics, civil society and the media placing the ROK among the most democratic countries in Asia. Political parties in the ROK have thin institutional roots, tending to coalesce around particular leaders and presidential candidates.
President Lee Myung-bak took office in February 2008 with 59% support. As the first Korean President with a business background, President Lee has focused on economic development through deregulation and competition. He has set about streamlining the public sector to pursue an efficient and pragmatic government as well as reforming the public education sector.
The ROK is assuming a global reach and impact commensurate with its status as the world’s thirteenth largest economy. The ROK was the first developing country to transition from being an international aid recipient to becoming an aid donor, when it joined the OECD Development Assistance Committee in 2010. Its hosting of the G20 Leader’s Summit in November 2010 was further confirmation that the country has arrived as a middle power.
The ROK rebounded strongly from the global financial crisis. The Government’s economic stimulus measures, a sharp and sustained rebound in exports, the influence of the Chinese economy and the benefit of experience from the 1997 crisis have all been credited as reasons for the ROK’s impressive performance.
However in the 2010/2011 period the ROK economy has also faced some challenges, such as severe weather events and a serious outbreak of foot and mouth disease, which have both compounded rising consumer prices. The Bank of Korea reports that consumer prices increased by 4.7% in July 2011 (up from 2.6% for the same month in 2010). In addition, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while real GDP increased by 6.1% in 2010, growth is projected to decline to 4.5% in 2011.
The ROK’s rapid economic development has been export-led, having inserted itself into the world market in a number of heavy industrial sectors by dint of competitive firms supported by low-cost labour. Increasingly, the ROK has focused on high-tech industries including electronics, semiconductors, shipbuilding and automobiles. Successive governments nurtured the development of chaebol, such as Samsung, Hyundai, LG and Daewoo. These family-run conglomerates have dominated the economy since the 1970s.
In 2008, President Lee proclaimed “Low Carbon, Green Growth” as the national vision for the next 60 years. His Green New Deal, which was also part of the stimulus package in response to the global economic crisis, aimed to create 956,000 new jobs in the green sector and invest 50 trillion Won (US$38.5 billion) to finance nine key projects with an environmental focus over four years. Despite being a non Annex 1 country, the ROK has signed on to climate change commitments.
With its economic success founded on access to world markets, the ROK is a proponent of free trade agreements (FTAs). The ROK has FTAs with Chile, Singapore, India, ASEAN, and the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland), the EU and Peru, and is close to ratifying its agreement with the US. It is negotiating FTAs with seven other countries including New Zealand and Australia. Though supporting improved market access for non-agricultural goods, the ROK takes a more defensive stance on agriculture. Its average tariff on imported agricultural goods is 53.5%, compared to 6.5% for industrial goods.
Inter-Korean relations were strained during 2010 by the DPRK’s sinking of a ROK naval vessel, the Cheonan, and artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island. The Cheonan sinking caused the deaths of 46 sailors and four people were killed in the attack on Yeonpyeong Island, including two ROK civilians. These incidents followed a series of other provocative actions by the DPRK including launching a long-range rocket and nuclear test in 2009, and previously withdrawing from Six-Party Talks aimed at denuclearising the Korean Peninsula. President Lee has taken a firmer line than his predecessors with the warming of inter-Korean relations contingent on sincere moves to resolve the nuclear issue.
Relations with the United States continue to be a cornerstone of the ROK’s foreign, trade and defence policies, with the ROK reliant on the US for several key aspects of its security. Around 28,500 US troops remain on the peninsula. Economic and political links with China are of growing importance; China is the main destination for Korean investment and ROK’s largest trading partner. Attitudes towards Japan are affected by the legacy of Japan’s colonial rule of the ROK (1910-45), yet there is increasing recognition on both sides of shared mutual interests including recent discussions on the possibility of closer defence cooperation.
New Zealand’s bilateral relationship with the ROK is founded on strong political, economic, and security links going back to the Korean War. Diplomatic relations were established in 1962 and a resident Embassy opened in Seoul in 1971. In recent years the relationship has deepened through engagement in such areas as government interactions, economics and trade, people-to-people links, film and culture, education, science and technology, and promotion of shared interests in regional and global issues.
High level visits in both directions are frequent. Prime Minister John Key’s visit to the ROK in July 2010 underscored the commitment of both countries to move the relationship forward. The Joint Press Release endorsed by Leaders during the visit reaffirmed the strength, vibrancy and breadth of the relationship built on strong historic ties, shared values and mutual commitment to regional peace and security.
There are also a range of institutionalised interactions allowing for regular ministerial-level and officials-level meetings. These include annual consultations of Foreign Ministers as well as regular foreign, economic, treasury, military, customs, forestry, and agriculture consultations. Strong political and parliamentary links have been built up through a Prime Minister's Fellowship Programme and parliamentary exchanges.
The ROK is New Zealand’s fifth largest bilateral trading partner with two-way trade totalling NZ$2.8 billion in the year ending December 2010. Bilateral trade is balanced and complementary. New Zealand’s exports to the ROK (NZ$1.41 billion) include logs, aluminium, beef, kiwifruit, dairy and seafood; imports from the ROK (NZ$1.39 billion) include capital and consumer items such as cars, electronic equipment and machinery.
Trade between the countries has grown four-fold since 1990 but there is scope to expand these ties. Following a preliminary study, Prime Minister Key and President Lee officially announced the intention to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in March 2009, and negotiations are currently underway.
There are 30,800 ethnic Koreans living in New Zealand, the largest expatriate Korean community in the world on a per capita basis. They provide a vibrant base for the bilateral relationship with several prominent members including Melissa Lee MP and golfer Danny Lee, who became the youngest winner of the US Amateur Championship in history in 2008. A small New Zealand community exists in the ROK, including more than 1,500 English-language teachers.
In 2010, the ROK was New Zealand’s sixth largest market in terms of visitor numbers and seventh largest source of visitor expenditure. There is a popular Working Holiday Scheme between the two countries whereby 1,800 young Koreans and New Zealanders can work in the other country for up to a year. Sister City Agreements have been concluded between several cities, including Auckland and Busan, and Christchurch and Seoul’s Songpa District.
Collaboration exists between the New Zealand and Korean film industries. Several Korean films have been partially made or post-produced in New Zealand. A Film Co-production Agreement was signed in 2008 and an Audiovisual Cooperation Arrangement concluded in 2005 to facilitate cooperation in a range of areas, including training.
In 2010, the ROK was New Zealand’s second largest source of international students with 15,282 Koreans studying at New Zealand schools and tertiary institutions. The Korean alumnus stretches back to the estimated 300 Koreans who studied or trained in New Zealand in the 1960s and 1970s under the Colombo Plan. An Education Cooperation Arrangement was signed in 2009 to deepen the relationship at the policy level and the first New Zealand-ROK Joint Policy Committee on Education was held in Wellington in March 2010.
There are a range of ongoing activities under a Science and Technology Cooperation Arrangement signed in 1997. The first Focal Point Programme focused on environmental science, biotechnology, information and communication technology (ICT) and materials science. A second Programme promoting collaboration in the fields of food innovation, renewable energy and nanotechnology is nearing conclusion. A third programme, with a focus on green growth, Antarctic research, and new medicines and medical applications was announced in June. One notable joint research project to come out of the first Programme has been the robotics for elderly care collaboration between the University of Auckland and its ROK partner, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).
Information and communications technology is another area of collaboration. The ROK is said to be the “most wired country in the world” and a global leader in the development and commercialisation of new technologies, while New Zealand has capabilities in research, software design and leveraging off high-technology. In November 2009, New Zealand hosted the fifth Korea, Australia, New Zealand (KANZ) Broadband Summit, which brought together ministers, senior officials and business leaders from the three countries’ ICT sectors to discuss areas of common interest and commercial opportunities. The sixth Summit was held in Hobart in April 2011.
A defence relationship has developed out of New Zealand’s involvement in the Korean War. Around 6,000 New Zealanders served in Korea, 45 of whom lost their lives. Groups of New Zealand veterans and their families visit the ROK each April for commemorative ceremonies in Seoul, Kapyong, and at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan, where 34 New Zealanders are buried.
New Zealand continues to support efforts to bring peace and security to the Korean Peninsula as a member of the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC). New Zealand contributes through a Defence Attaché in Seoul, as well as three fulltime New Zealand Defence Force personnel deployed to the UNCMAC. A high level of defence engagement is also maintained through involvement in multilateral peacekeeping operations, military exercises, ship visits, defence talks, and academic exchanges.
The ROK has become increasingly active in multilateral fora. It joined the UN in 1991 and OECD in 1997, and hosted the APEC Summit in 2005 and the G20 Leaders’ Summit in 2010. ROK will host the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan in November 2011, and the second Nuclear Security Summit in March 2012. The strong ROK-New Zealand bilateral relationship provides a sound foundation on which to enhance collaboration in regional and international settings such as EAS, APEC, and the UN.
Schedule of recent high-level New Zealand visits to the ROK
Schedule of recent high-level ROK visits to New Zealand
The Safe Travel website provides a travel advisory for travellers to South Korea [external link].
Enquiries may be directed to Consular Division at the following numbers:
Phone: +64 4 494 8500
Fax: +64 4 494 8506.
