Premium
Report from South Korea
Author(s) -
Baik Soon Koo,
Lee June Sung,
Yeon Jong Eun,
Chung YoungHwa
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
liver international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.873
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1478-3231
pISSN - 1478-3223
DOI - 10.1111/j.1478-3231.2008.01868.x
Subject(s) - peninsula , geography , urbanization , population , metropolitan area , life expectancy , world war ii , east asia , industrialisation , demography , socioeconomics , china , archaeology , economic growth , political science , sociology , law , economics
Known as the ‘Land of morning calm’ and located in eastern Asia, Korea has maintained its own tradition and language for thousands of years. At the end of World War II, the Korean peninsula was divided into a northern zone occupied by Soviet forces and a southern zone occupied by US forces. The boundary between the two zones was the 38th parallel. In 1953, at the end of the Korean War, a new border was fixed along the Demilitarized Zone. The total area of the peninsula, including its islands, is 222 154 km, of which about 45% (99 313 km) constitutes the territory of South Korea. The Korean language is spoken by about 70 million people. Although most speakers of Korean live on the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands, 4 5 million are scattered throughout the world. Most Koreans have a homogenous cultural background and speak one language, and they are believed to be descendants of several Mongol tribes that migrated onto the Korean Peninsula from Central Asia. The nation’s rapid industrialization and urbanization in the 1960s and 1970s has been accompanied by continuing migration of rural residents into cities, particularly Seoul, resulting in heavily populated metropolitan areas. As of 2007, South Korea’s total population was estimated at approximately 49 million. The population of North Korea is estimated to be about 24 million. A notable trend in Korea’s demographics is that it is growing older with each passing year because of the low birth rate and extended life expectancy, which is currently 81.8 years for women and 74.4 years for men. Korea’s Gross National Income (GNI) increased from US$2.3 billion to US$887.3 billion, with its per capita GNI soaring from US$87 to about US$18 372 from 1962 to 2006 as a result of many successful economic development programmes and well-educated human resources. Liver disease is one of the 10 major causes of death among men and women in Korea. The Korean Association for the Study of the Liver, related organisations, and the Ministry of Health are working hard to reduce the socioeconomic burden caused by liver disease.