Question

Economical analysis of South Korea

Answer 1

Ranked 12th among the biggest economic forces in the world and 4th in Asia , South Korea is renowned for its remarkable rise from one of the world's poorest countries to a rich, high-income nation in just one century. The country maintained a stable economy during the global financial crisis, and even witnessed economic growth during the crisis peak. But South Korea's economy is on track for one of its worst two-year growth periods in more than half a century, battered by China's economic slowdown and uncertainty over the Beijing-Washington trade war

Stagnant investment and failure to spill the chip sector boom into other industries limited economic growth in 2019 to an estimated 2%, up from 2.7% in 2018. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, GDP growth is projected to fall to -1.2 per cent in 2020 and to pick up to 3.4 per cent in 2021, subject to the post-pandemic global economic recovery, according to the revised IMF projections of 14 April 2020. Public finances deteriorated in 2019, in spite of stimulus packages. Budget surplus dropped to 0.7% of GDP, and the IMF expects fiscal deficit to hit 0.7% by 2020 and 1.7% by 2021.

By expansionary fiscal spending, the government has worked hard over 2019 to stimulate the economy, and as a result employment statistics shows an increase in both the number of jobs and the employment status. Framework steps for industrial progress have been completed, covering proposals to restructure manufacturing and infrastructure, creating new core technology, networks and AI technologies, and supporting the three latest innovative systems technologies on a chip, biohealth and potential vehicles. The government also worked for a second venture boom, strong employment support and social safety nets, which led to improved distribution indicators, and supplementary measures to help the 52 hour workweek run smoothly

South Korea has had outstanding success in combining rapid economic growth with significant poverty reduction. Profit per capita rose from USD 100 in 1963 to today's over USD 31,400 (IMF). While the unemployment rate is very low (3.8 percent, IMF, 2019), the number of irregular jobs is very high, worsening social inequality and weakening social relations. The government is struggling to improve jobs, even after using an additional USD 400 million mainly for job development ventures, and urges pension funds to invest more in Kosdaq small-cap stocks to raise innovation

South Korea's agricultural sector makes only a marginal contribution to the country's GDP (1.9 per cent) and employs only 4.6 per cent of the active population. Rice is the main agricultural crop, with extensive cultivation of barley, wheat , corn, soybeans, and sorghum. Large-scale livestock farming is also part of the sector. Less than a quarter of the land is farmed. Mineral resources in South Korea are limited to both gold and silver.

The service sector is the largest and fastest economic sector, accounting for 53.5 percent of GDP and employing 70.4 percent of the active population, especially department stores, retail chains and supermarkets. According to the Korean Tourism Organization, tourism is one of the fast-growing sectors with a 14 percent growth in 2019, although the number of Chinese visitors has fallen significantly in recent years due to Beijing's travel ban, which has not been lifted in full.