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South Korea
| Economy Overview |
| South Korea (officially the Republic of Korea) is one of the few Asian countries categorized by the IMF as an advanced economy. In terms of GDP, South Korea is 11th richest nation in the world ($727 billion estimated for 2009). Compared to other advanced economies, South Korea is one of the most populated (48 millions inhabitants) and its unemployment rate is one of the lowest (3.7%), just behind Denmark and Norway.
In 2007 the U.S. and South Korea signed a free trade agreement http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/korus-fta/final-text. It is the largest such agreement signed by the US in nearly 20 years, since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was ratified. However, the Obama Administration has requested renegotiation of some parts of the agreement. Since the US and Korea are close allies it is hoped that the agreement revisions will be agreed upon and the agreement will be sent to the U.S. Senate for ratification.
The economic crisis and the appreciation of the won have not helped sustain South Korean exports over the past 18 months. For 2009, the IMF forecasts a GDP negative growth rate of -4%. However the Korean government maintains several export promotion programs that help overseas buyers identify quality Korean exports. Two government sponsored online marketplaces are BuyKorea http://www.buykorea.org/ and Gobizkorea http://www.gobizkorea.com/. And EC21.com http://www.ec21.com/ is a worldwide marketplace that is based in Korea and lists many Korean exports |
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| Economy Statistics |
| Exports: |
$250.6 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) [?]
This entry provides the total US dollar amount of merchandise exports on an f.o.b. (free on board) basis. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
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Export
Commodities: |
semiconductors, wireless telecommunications equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships, petrochemicals [?]
This entry provides a rank ordering of exported products starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
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Export
Partners: |
China 19.7%, US 17%, Japan 8.6%, Hong Kong 7.2% (2004) [?]
This entry provides a rank ordering of trading partners starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
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| Imports: |
$214.2 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) [?]
This entry provides the total US dollar amount of merchandise imports on a c.i.f. (cost, insurance, and freight) or f.o.b. (free on board) basis. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
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Import
Commodities: |
machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, organic chemicals, plastics [?]
This entry provides a rank ordering of imported products starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
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Import
Partners: |
Japan 20.6%, China 13.2%, US 12.9%, Saudi Arabia 5.3% (2004) [?]
This entry provides a rank ordering of trading partners starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
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| Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry |
| Address: |
PO Box 25, 45 4-ka, Namdaemun-no, Chung-ku, Seoul |
| Phone: |
(2) 316 3114 |
| Fax: |
(2) 757 9475 |
| Website: |
http://www.korcham.net/ |
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