South Korea

B

Agriculture

Land distribution programs were carried out in South Korea in the late 1940s, creating an agricultural system composed primarily of small, owner-operated farms. The rapid industrialization of South Korea and increasing urbanization has diminished the importance of farming to the country’s economy, and the number of families dependent on agriculture for their livelihood steadily declined beginning in the 1970s.

About 17 percent of the land in South Korea is under cultivation. More than half of the agricultural land is devoted to rice, the principal food crop. Other leading crops include soybeans, red peppers, barley, cabbages, watermelons, garlic, onions, radishes, white potatoes, red beans, corn, and sweet potatoes. Many types of fruit are grown, especially apples, oranges, grapes, persimmons, pears, and peaches. Other crops include cotton, hemp, and silk. Livestock include pigs, cattle, and goats.

C

Forestry and Fishing

Since the late 1960s South Korea has become one of the world’s leading fishing nations, with a modern fleet operating in distant waters. Other vessels fish in nearby coastal waters. The ports of Ulsan and Masan have been developed as deep-sea fishing bases with fish-processing plants. The catch in 2004 was 2 million metric tons. Squid, mollusks, anchovies, tuna, walleye pollock, and mackerel make up the principal catches.

South Korea imports the majority of its lumber, but reforestation has provided some tree plantations for commercial use. The country’s timber harvest in 2005 yielded 4.9 million cubic meters (172 million cubic feet) of lumber.

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D

Mining

South Korea has limited mineral resources. The output of anthracite coal, the country’s leading mineral resource, was 3.3 million metric tons in 2003. Zinc ore output was 6,000 metric tons. Small amounts of graphite, iron ore, lead, tungsten, gold, silver, and kaolin (a fine clay) are extracted. Limestone mining is significant, with much of the yield used in the production of cement, the principal material used in new construction.

E

Manufacturing

The division of the Korea Peninsula in 1948 created two unbalanced economic units. North Korea held most of the natural resources and heavy industries developed during occupation by the Japanese; South Korea contained most of the agricultural resources and a large labor pool. Industrial development in the south concentrated initially on light manufacturing of export-oriented items, especially in labor-intensive industries such as textiles and apparel, footwear, and foodstuffs. Beginning in the early 1970s, however, emphasis was placed on heavy industry. In the 1980s and 1990s Korean manufacturers branched into high-technology industries, such as computer components and semiconductors. Manufacturing is dominated by chaebol, large conglomerate companies with greatly diversified interests.

South Korea is an important producer of telecommunications and sound equipment and transportation equipment. Shipbuilding is a major industry. Other leading industries include the manufacture of chemicals, machinery, food products and beverages, basic metals, and textiles.

F

Energy

Thermal facilities that primarily burn imported petroleum generated 61 percent of South Korea’s electric power in 2003. In the 1970s the country began to build nuclear power plants in an effort to lessen its dependence on imported oil, and in 2003 nuclear plants generated 38 percent of the country’s electricity. Another 1 percent came from hydroelectric installations. Annual output of electricity was 326 billion kilowatt-hours.

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