Asia and Oceania

Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
Last reviewed: 1 June 2009

Country information

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POLITICS

The ROK operates under a presidential system. Several of its early Presidents managed to establish dictatorships, some military but waves of civil unrest eventually led to the first real democratic elections in 1987. With several constitutional amendments, there has been a gradual shift of power away from the President to the National Assembly.

The President, and Head of State, is elected by popular vote for a single non-renewable five-year term. He appoints a Prime Minister who advises him on the appointment of Ministers. The current President, Lee Myung-bak, was elected in December 2007 and inaugurated on 25 February 2008. The President nominates the Prime Minister although the National Assembly must endorse the appointment. The President appoints Ministers on the Prime Minister's recommendation. President Lee’s nomination of former Finance and Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo as Prime Minister was approved by the National Assembly on 29 February 2008.

The Legislative branch consists of a unicameral National Assembly of 299 seats for which elections are held every four years. After the General Election in April 2008, the position in the National assembly was as follows:

National Asembly was as follows:

Party	Political position	Total Seats
Grand National Party (GNP)	Conservative	153
United Democratic Party (UDP)	Progressive	81
Independents	Mostly right of centre	25
Liberal forward Party (LFP)	Right wing	18
Pro-Park Alliance (PPA)	Conservative	14
Democratic Labour Party	Left	5
Creative Korean Party	Left / Green	3
Total		299

HUMAN RIGHTS

The Human Rights situation in South Korea has radically improved in parallel with the democratisation process. Much of this is the legacy of pro-democracy activist Kim Dae-jung (President 1998 – 2003), whose work was recognised with a Nobel Peace Prize in 2000. With the creation of the National Human Rights Council of Korea (NHRCK) in 2001, adoption of UN protocols, domestic legislation and the formation of a 5 year National Action Plan (NAP), South Korea now has a world-class framework for the protection of human rights. In January 2007, renowned South Korean human rights expert, Ms Kang Kyung-hwa, was appointed Deputy High Commissioner to the UNHCR and the country will undergo universal peer review in spring 2008.

Death penalty: no sentence has been carried out since 1997 and at the end of 2007 South Korea was awarded ‘Abolitionist in Practice’ by Amnesty international. Bills to abolish the death penalty have been introduced to the 15th 16th and 17th terms of the National Assembly. The 17th term ends in May 2008 and the proposed bill lapses. President Lee publicly spoke in favour of the death penalty during his election campaign and due to a recent string of child abduction cases in the media, public debate is high.