Politics | |
Political System | |
Korea is a democratic republic with power centralized in a strong executive president. Regional autonomy has been established since 1995. | |
Constitution | |
Promulgated on July 17, 1948, the Korean constitution guarantees individual rights and calls for three independent branches of government: legislative, judicial, administrative. | |
Government | |
On August 15, 1948, the government of the First Republic
was born. Kim Dae-jung was elected president in December 1997 and
inaugurated as the 15th-term President of the Republic of Korea in
February 25, 1998. He calls his Administration "the Government of the
People." It was created through the first ever peaceful transfer of
power between the ruling and an opposition party in the 50 years of
modern Korean political history since August 15, 1945, when the country
was liberated from Japan. | |
National Assembly | |
The unicameral system is composed of three major parties : the ruling parties, the National Congress for New Politics and the United Liberal Democrats has 104 and 52 Assembly seats respectively, while the major opposition party, the Grand National Party has 137 seats. (As of Oct. 1998) | |
Judicial System | |
Three courts make up the judiciary: the Supreme
Court, the High Court, and the District Court. | |
South and North Korea | |
The recent changes to the power structure in North Korea and the lessening of nuclear tension on the peninsula have resulted in an increased interest in investment opportunities and trade, and an accelerated effort to resume South-North dialogue with the eventual goal of reunification. | |
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