| Fast Growing Economy | Flourishing Foreign Trade |
| Korea's economic rise is unprecedented in world history. Korea has maintained an average annual growth rate of 7.3 percent for the 32 years from 1971 to 2002. In 2002, nominal GDP stood at US$476.6 billion, the twelfth largest in the world and its GNI per capita was US$10,103, the 26th highest. In the early 1970s, GDP was only US$8 billion and national income per capita a mere US$249. GDP has risen 59-fold and national income per capita 41-fold over the last 32 years. | Korea has also demonstrated outstanding performance in foreign trade. In 1962, Korea recorded US$55 million in exports and US$420 million in imports, ranking 61st in terms of trading volume; exports were made to only 33 countries. In 2002, exports amounted to US$161.4 billion, the world's 12th-largest and imports to US$152.1 billion, also the 12th-largest. Its trading volume marked a dramatic rise to US$313.5 billion, the 12th in the world. Korea's export partners now number 232 nations and exports accounted for 54.0 percent of GDP as of late 2002. |
| Quality Human Resources | Figure S: Annual Volume of Foreign Trade |
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It is said that Korea's workforce has been the main factor behind the “Miracle on the Han River,” the amazingly rapid industrial progress of Korea over the past three decades. A highly skilled and well-educated workforce and superior working conditions relative to its neighbors are often-cited factors behind foreign companies' decisions to invest in Korea. Such competitive human resources are helping advance Korea towrd becoming a true knowledge-based economy.
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Figure T: Korea's global position (13) in GDP
| Technical Skills and High Level of Education | Productive and Diligent Workforce |
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Koreans attach great importance to education since it has been a vital element in the country's economic and technological advancement. The Korean labor force is well educated, the outcome of a highly organized education system. Over 68 percent of the adult population has received higher education and 97 percent of the labor force has received either vocational training or a university degree. The literacy rate in Korea, 98 percent, is one of the highest in the world. Korea's comprehensive educational system has produced one of the best-educated workforces in the world. Simply put, Korea is one of the most educated of all countries. More than 300,000 new college graduates enter the Korean workforce each year a number that rivals more populated and advanced countries such as the U.K., France and Japan. |
Korean workers’ wages tend to be somewhat higher than those in neighboring countries such as China and Taiwan, but lower compared to advanced countries such as the U.S.A., Canada, Japan and Hong Kong. However, in terms of working hours, Koreans tend to work longer hours than workforces of other OECD countries. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, Korea’s average annual labor productivity growth rate was approximately 13 percent during the period from 1997 to 2001, a figure that far outpaces neighboring countries such as Taiwan, Japan or Singapore. Besides superior productivity, Korean workers also show commendable job commitment (e.g., accepting nominal pay cuts during periods of financial crisis as a trade off for job security). |
| Figure U: Korea's position in Productivity | |
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Despite boasting the second-largest number of science and engineering graduates relative to its population in the world, growing market demand for skilled IT workers has led the government to encourage educational institutions to place added focus on IT. Moreover, the government’s workforce retraining programs, with an emphasis on science and technology fields, will augment the educational level of the workforce while meeting the IT sector’s demand for qualified workers.
Korean workers are renowned for their diligence. The average working hours per employee in Korea amounted to 2,073 hours in 2002 while their counterparts in other Asian nations were only 95 percent of the Korean average. In addition, Ministry of Labor announced that in the manufacturing sector, an average weekly working hour per employee was 47.3 hours in August, 2002 and 47.1 hours in August, 2003, much longer than those in advanced nations.