| Officially the Republic of Korea, South Korea, is a presidential republic in East Asia. South Korea’s government is divided into three branches: executive, judicial and legislative, with the executive and judicial branches primarily functioning at the national level. Local governments also possess executive and legislative branches of their own.
The Constitution of the Republic of Korea is a document that formulates South Korea’s governmental structure. The document was officially put into action in 1948 and has received several revisions. The main characteristics of the document have stayed the same, and besides the exception of the short-lived Second Republic of South Korea, a presidential system has always been in place in South Korea.
As of 2007, by gross domestic product, South Korea’s economy was the third-largest in Asia and the 13th largest in the world. Korea’s economy had a huge growth spurt after the Korean War when it turned from a developing country into a wealthy developed one. Along with the great economic growth came many job opportunities, helping Korea to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world.
A huge focus of South Korea’s economy was on the heavy industry and automotive industry. Korea is home to the world’s third largest steel producer, POSCO, which has served as the foundation for Korea’s economy. Korea is the world’s largest shipbuilder and is the fifth-largest car manufacturing nation in the world
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