International Market Development

International market development | Comprehensive analysis of Korean economy and market conditions

Author : Bozhou Marine

Update time : 2020-12-25 10:29:05

In this article, we mainly introduce the basic situation of the Korean market. Including: geographic location, major cities, population conditions, ethnic groups, major festivals, natural resources, major industries, infrastructure construction, GDP, foreign exchange reserves, employment, prices, corporate income tax, personal tax rates, etc.

Introduction

Republic of Korea (Korean: 대한민국, English: Republic of Korea), referred to as "Korea". South Korea is located in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula in East Asia, with a total area of approximately 103,290 square kilometers (accounting for 45% of the area of the Korean Peninsula).

South Korea is a developed capitalist country, a founding member of APEC, the World Trade Organization and the East Asia Summit, and a member of important international organizations such as the OECD, the G20, and the United Nations.

Capital

Seoul (Hangul: 서울; English: Seoul), the full name is Seoul Special City, formerly known as Seoul. The capital of the Republic of Korea is the tenth largest city in the world, the largest city on the Korean Peninsula, and one of the major financial cities in Asia; it is also the political, economic, technological, educational, and cultural center of Korea.

Seoul is located in the Han River basin in the northwest of South Korea, in the middle of the Korean Peninsula. It was the earliest residence of the small kingdom of Dongyi in the Zhou Dynasty. In 1394, King Lee Sung-gyu moved the capital to Hanyang and changed it to Seoul. Since 1948, it was renamed "서울" (meaning capital), a Korean native word, and became the only city on the Korean Peninsula without a Chinese name. In January 2005, the South Korean government announced that the Chinese translation of "서울" was officially changed to "Seoul".

Seoul has 25 districts under its jurisdiction, covering an area of approximately 605.25 square kilometers, making it one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Although Seoul only accounts for 0.6% of South Korea's area, its GDP accounts for 21% of the national GDP. Seoul is one of the top ten financial centers in the world, an important economic center in the world, and its consumer price index ranks fifth in the world. It is also a highly digital city, with Internet speed and digital opportunity index ranking the first in the world.

Main City

1. Seoul

Seoul, the capital of South Korea and the largest city on the Korean Peninsula, ranks tenth in the world in terms of city size. At the same time, Seoul is also a densely populated place in the world. One-fifth of South Korea’s population is concentrated in Seoul.

Seoul - Picture | Google

2. Busan

Busan is South Korea’s second largest city and the only city that was not captured by the Korean People’s Army during the Korean War. In many respects, Busan is a bit similar to my country’s cities such as Qingdao and Ningbo. The port city has a developed economy.

Busan - Picture | Google

3. Incheon

Incheon is the third largest city in Korea. What impressed everyone most about Incheon was the Incheon Landing Campaign. At that time, no one thought that coalition forces would land from this city. Because Incheon is the most inland coastal city in Korea, very close to the 38th line.

4. Daegu

Daegu is the fourth largest city in South Korea. The living environment in this city is a bit like Chongqing in our country, surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the climate is sultry. It is known as the "No. 1 furnace in Korea".

5. Daejeon

Daejeon is the fifth largest city in South Korea and the youngest city in South Korea. Founded less than a hundred years ago. Daejeon is now the center of science and technology in South Korea.

6. Gwangju

Gwangju is the sixth largest city in South Korea, as well as the cultural and educational capital of South Korea. There are more than 10 colleges and universities in this city of just over 1 million people. At the same time, Gwangju is also the closest city to Jeju Island.

7. Ulsan

Ulsan, one of the largest cities in South Korea, is larger than Seoul. Although it is the seventh largest city in South Korea, its economic level is not low.

8. Bucheon

Bucheon is the eighth largest city in South Korea. Bucheon is said to be the eight largest cities in South Korea. In fact, this city is very small with a population of less than one million. But the location is good, sandwiched between the two big cities of Seoul and Daegu, a bit like Langfang, Hebei in our country.

9. Suwon

Suwon is the ninth largest city in South Korea. This city is a bit like Tianjin in our country. First of all, it is close to the capital, economically prosperous, and has a certain historical and cultural heritage.

10. Cheongju

Cheongju, an inland city in South Korea, is in the center of South Korea. Regardless of its geographical location and economic level, Qingzhou is a bit like Wuhan in my country. It just so happens that the city of Qingzhou and Wuhan are sister cities.

  Jet Lag

South Korea is in East 9th District and East 8th District of Beijing, China, so South Korea is one hour faster. For example: 8 am South Korea time, 7 am Beijing time.

  Population and Ethnicity

As of January 2019, South Korea has a total population of approximately 51 million people. It is a single ethnic group. The main ethnic group is Korean. It belongs to the yellow race of East Asia, accounting for 96.25% of the country's total population.

  Language

Korean is commonly used in Korea.

Main Holiday

Spring Festival: the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar.
Independence Day: March 1st.
Liberation Day: August 15th, commemorates the restoration from Japanese colonial rule (1945) and the founding of the Republic of Korea (1948).
Mid-Autumn Festival: The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month.
Kaitian Festival: October 3rd, the legendary day of the founding of ancient Korea.

Drum Dances - Picture | Google

  Natural Resources

South Korea has a wide variety of mineral resources, but there are few minerals worth mining. Industrial raw materials mainly rely on imports, and the self-sufficiency rate is only 10%. Due to the lack of marine deposits after the Mesozoic, South Korea has not found oil fields so far. Energy minerals are mainly anthracite, but the reserves are small. The relatively large reserves of metallic minerals in South Korea mainly include gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, magnesium, tungsten, antimony, tin, etc. Korea has abundant reserves of non-metallic minerals. The reserves of barite, mica, fluorite and kaolin are high.

South Korea is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and the nearby seas are rich in fishery resources, which can be divided into three major fishing grounds: the East China Sea Fishing Ground, the Yellow Sea Fishing Ground and the South China Sea Fishing Ground.

  Major Industries

The industry is dominated by manufacturing and service industries. Shipbuilding, automobiles, electronics, steel, textiles and other industries are among the top 10 in the world in output. Large corporate groups occupy a very important position in the Korean economy. Major large corporate groups include Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, and LG.

Electronics Industry

South Korea is a leader in electronic products in the world. Flat-panel display devices such as memory, liquid crystal displays and plasma displays, and mobile phones have a leading position in the world market. The world-renowned Korean electronic product manufacturers include Samsung, LG, SK, etc., among which Samsung is the world's largest information technology company.

Since the 21st century, the Korean electronics industry has accelerated the pace of internationalization, successively investing in the construction of factories in Europe, America, and East Asia. The overseas output of South Korea's home appliance sector has exceeded its domestic output. The Korean electronics industry is mainly distributed in the metropolitan area with Seoul as the center, the Gumi electronics industrial complex and the Busan area. Has become a powerhouse in the world's electronics industry. Samsung and LG's mobile phones, digital TVs, plasma TVs, LCD monitors and other products are world-renowned products.

Auto Industry

Automobile manufacturing is another pillar industry in Korea. In 2014, South Korean automobile production was 4.52 million units, accounting for 5% of the total global automobile production. Since 2005, South Korea has been the world's fifth largest automobile producer for 10 consecutive years. Hyundai-Kia Motors Group is South Korea’s largest and the world’s third largest car manufacturer. South Korean cars are a rising star in the world's automobile manufacturing industry. It took only 38 years for Hyundai Motors to launch its first car of its own design in 1975 to its cumulative global sales of 50 million vehicles, while it took more than 50 years for Toyota to reach this number. time. The auto parts industry is also quite large in Korea. In 2012, the three major Korean tire manufacturers Hankook Tire, Kumho Tire, and Nexen Tire ranked 8th, 11th and 23rd respectively in the global ranking of the top 75 tires.

Shipbuilding Industry

South Korea is the world's shipbuilding power, and for a long time it was also the world's largest shipbuilding country. South Korea occupies seven of the top ten global shipyards, taking the top six. Among them, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Co., Ltd. and STX Shipbuilding & Marine are the world's top four shipyards.

South Korea has significant advantages in building high value-added ships. Liquefied natural gas carriers are the long-term project of Hyundai Heavy Industries; in terms of marine exploration vessels, Samsung Heavy Industries takes the lead, occupying 60% of the world market; Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Co., Ltd. is the world’s major manufacturer of large oil tankers, with about 10% of the world’s The large oil tanker is produced by Daewoo Company. In May 2007, South Korea independently built the first Aegis destroyer, the "King Sejong Class Destroyer", making South Korea the fifth country in the world to have Aegis destroyers after the United States, Japan, Spain, and Norway.

South Korea is a world leader in oil tankers, container ships, liquefied natural gas ships (LNG), floating production and storage ships, high-speed and super large ships, and luxury cruise ships. Among them, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Co., Ltd. and STX Shipbuilding & Marine are the world's top four shipyards.

  Infrastructure

South Korea's land, sea and air transportation are relatively developed. A network of railways and expressways has been established throughout the country.

Railway

The total length of Korean railway is about 3900 kilometers. In March 2004, the Seoul-Busan high-speed railway opened, with a total length of 412 kilometers and a top speed of 300 kilometers per hour.

Highway

The total length of Korean highways is about 107,000 kilometers, of which highways are about 4,200 kilometers. There are more than 22 million registered cars.

Water Transport

South Korea is mainly shipping. The main ports are: Busan, Pohang, Incheon, Gunsan, Mokpo, Jeju, Yeosu, etc.

Air Transport

South Korea has 21 domestic routes, 350 international routes (including 210 foreign airline routes), and 8 existing international airports: Incheon International Airport, Gimpo International Airport, Jeju International Airport, Gimhae International Airport, Cheongju International Airport, Daegu International Airport, Yangyang International Airport, Muan International Airport.

  Economic recovery is difficult

From the perspective of economic aggregates, South Korea once again lost to Russia in 2019, ranking 12th in the world with a performance of US$1.64 trillion and fourth in Asia (the top three in Asia are China, Japan and India). The actual economic growth rate completed throughout the year was 2%, of which the lowest in the first quarter, only increasing by 1.7%. In the second and third quarters, the real growth rate was 2%, and in the fourth quarter it increased to 2.3%. However, it is a pity that 2020 suffered from "new crown pneumonia", breaking the "recovery momentum that appeared in the second half of 2019"-the global economy is expected to decline sharply, and the economies of dozens of countries, including South Korea, may appear due to this. Negative growth.

Korea's GDP growth rate trend graph over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

Most economists predict that South Korea’s economy will decline by less than 2%, and the entire 2020 economy is expected to actually decline by 1.9% (IMF forecast).

Foreign exchange reserves have grown steadily in recent years

Korea's foreign exchange reserves trend chart over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

Because the domestic market is small and cannot consume huge industrial production capacity, the Korean economy is highly dependent on foreign trade. Although South Korea’s foreign imports and exports in 2019 fell by 8.3% year-on-year, the total value of imports and exports is still as high as US$1,045.58 billion, which is about the same period of GDP. 63.75% of the total (even reached 70% in previous years).

For the entire year of 2019, South Korea’s trade surplus was 38.89 billion U.S. dollars, a drop of 44.2% (it reached 70 or 80 billion U.S. dollars in previous years). Thanks to the export-oriented economic model, South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves have grown steadily.

Unemployment rate hits a new high, and the number of unemployed breaks the highest level in 20 years

Korea's employment trends over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

Statistics show that due to the impact of this year’s epidemic, South Korea has reduced employment for eight consecutive months. It also broke the record of long employment decline from January to August 2009, and there is no sign of improvement at present, and it may continue to decline. in.

Korea Unemployment Rate Trends over the Years | TRADING ECONOMICS

According to data released by the Korea Statistics Bureau, the new crown pneumonia (COVID-19) epidemic continues to spread and has an impact on the Korean job market. In September, the Korean unemployment rate rose to 3.6%, the largest increase since the financial crisis.

Prices continue to rise, inflation rate remains low

Korea Consumer Price Index CPI Trends over the Years | TRADING ECONOMICS

From 2011 to 2020, the Korean consumer price index (CPI) has increased rapidly, and prices have continued to rise.

Korea's inflation rate trend chart over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

From 2011 to 2020, South Korea's inflation rate remained low and the economic growth rate dropped significantly.

Corporate income tax 25%

Korea's corporate income tax trends over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

In 2020, the Korean corporate income tax rate is 25%.

Personal income tax 42%

Korea's personal income tax trends over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

In 2020, South Korea’s personal income tax rate is 42%.

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