Population: In July 2004, South Korea’s population was estimated to be 48,598,175. The official growth rate estimate is 0.6 percent, and this rate is expected to decline to zero by 2028. In the twentieth century, there has been significant emigration to China (1.9 million) and the United States (1.5 million), and about 1 million Koreans live in Japan and the countries of the former Soviet Union. More than 80 percent of all South Koreans live in urban areas. Population density is very high, with approximately 480 persons per square kilometer.

Demography: South Korea’s age structure has changed significantly since the 1950s, driven largely by falling birthrates and rising life expectancies. According to a 2004 estimate, 20.4 percent of the population is less than 15 years of age, 71.4 percent is 15–64, and 8.2 percent of the population is aged 65 or older. By 2030 it is expected that more than 20 percent of the population will be 65 or older.

In the population, men slightly outnumber women, with 101 males for every 100 females. The social preference for male children, although less pronounced than in the past, remains. The widening disparity between the birthrates of males and females has occasioned expressions of concern from the South Korean government. The fertility rate is 1.6 children born for every woman, the birthrate is 12.3 births per 1,000, the death rate is 6.1 deaths per 1,000, and the infant mortality rate is 7.2 deaths per 1,000. In 2004 overall life expectancy was 75.6 years: 71.9 years for men and 79.5 years for women.

Ethnic Groups: With the exception of a very small minority of ethnic Chinese (about 20,000), the Korean population is homogeneous.

Language: Korean is the national language and is spoken in a variety of local dialects generally coinciding with provincial boundaries. The Seoul dialect is the basis for modern standard Korean. Written Korean uses Han’gßl, the Korean phonetic alphabet developed in the fifteenth century. The McCune-Reischauer System of romanization for Korean has been used widely since its development in 1939. However, in 2000 the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in an effort to make the language more compatible with computer and Internet usage, promulgated the Revised Romanization System of Korean, which is used widely in South Korea today. Chinese characters (Hanja), once used exclusively by the literati, occasionally still are used. English is also widely taught in junior and high schools.

Religion: Just more than 50 percent of Koreans profess religious affiliation. That affiliation is spread among a great variety of traditions, including Buddhism (25 percent), Christianity (25 percent), Confucianism (2 percent), and shamanism. These numbers should be treated with some caution, however, as (with the exception of Christianity) there are few if any meaningful distinctions between believers and nonbelievers in Buddhism and Confucianism, which is more of a set of ethical values than a religion. The cultural impact of these movements is far more widespread than the number of formal adherents suggests. A variety of “new religions” have emerged since the mid-nineteenth century, including Ch’4ndogyo. A very small Muslim minority also exists.

Education and Literacy: Korean society historically has prized learning and the well educated, yet education was not widely available to all until after the Korean War. As late as 1945, less than 20 percent of Koreans had received formal education of any kind. The modern education system is based on a 1968 charter that identifies education as an important aspect of citizenship and defines the government’s role in providing all Korean children with access to education. South Korea has compulsory education through the ninth grade, with 95 percent of school-age children attending high school. Approximately 25 percent of all high-school students attend one of 350 public and private postsecondary institutions, the most prestigious of which are Seoul National, Yonsei, Koryo, and Ewha universities. Many observers regard students as the “national conscience” of South Korea, especially given their important role in democratic reform movements since 1960. The literacy rate is 98 percent.

Health: Although life expectancy has increased significantly since 1950, South Korea faces a number of important health-care issues. Foremost is the impact of environmental pollution and poor sanitation on an increasingly urbanized population. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, chronic diseases account for the majority of diseases in South Korea, a condition exacerbated by the health care system’s focus on treatment rather than prevention. The incidence of chronic disease in South Korea hovers around 24 percent. Approximately 33 percent of all adults smoke. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) rate of prevalence at the end of 2003 was less than 0.1 percent. In 2001 central government expenditures on health care accounted for about 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Welfare: Responsibility for maintaining and promoting national welfare and health programs falls to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The present social welfare system administers the National Health Insurance System (NHIS), the National Pension Scheme, and a variety of other social welfare services such as programs for the disabled, the elderly, women, and children. Industrial injury compensation programs were begun in the early 1960s, and by 2000 they, along with unemployment insurance, were available to all workers, according to government sources. Health insurance programs have increased steadily in availability; in 2003, 30.7 million adult South Koreans were enrolled in the NHIS, as were 15.4 million dependents. A minimum wage, which is adjusted annually, was established in 1998, and in 2003 legislation authorized a five-day workweek. The incidence of work-related deaths and injuries in South Korea remains high by international standards.