Economy in Korea

Today's topic is economy in Korea. Korean economy is based on industry. Top industries Korea has are IT technology, Cars, Ships, Construction. Especially in IT technology, we are one of the leading countries in the world. We have a lot of companies that have cutting-edge technologies. Samsung is one of them. This company produces smartphone, computer and semiconductors for IT devices.

 Like this, Korea has very big industry. However, there are also some problems. One is that Korean economy depends a lot on export. So, our economy is easily influenced by other countries' economic situations. For example, when world wide economic crisis arose, export decreased and our economy also got worsen. Moreover, our export is concentrated to few countries like U.S.A, China and Japan. Therefore, we are more dependent on their economies.

  So, to solve this problem, government has contracted  FTA(Free Trade Agreement) treaties with a lot of countries so that Korea companies can sell their products more easily. By these efforts, I think our economy is getting better.

Chart showing GDP of South Korea

Problem with neighboring countries

Hi,

This time, I will write about problems with neighboring countries. Basically, Korea has 3 neighboring countries; North Korea, Japan, and China. To be honest, we don't really like each other. What I mean is that we don't have bad emotion personally. However, we don't like neighboring countries themselves.

  First, as you may know, Korea is divided into North and South Korea. We had Korean War about 70 years ago. North Korea is governed by a dictator Kim Jong-un. Sometimes, North Korea tries to threaten South Korea. For example, they shoot missile to the ocean.  But usually, most of them are just threatening. It's even worthless to worry about them. However, the main problem is nuclear experiment in North Korea. Nobody knows if North Korea already made nuclear bomb. However, this is really dangerous. So not only South Korea but also all the world concern about it. 

 Second, Japan is not a favorable country to South Korea. That's because Japan colonized South Korea about 40 years until the end of the World War II. At that time, Japan did a numerous cruel and bad things to Korea. They tortured and killed a lot of people and committed bio-experiment to the living person. For example, they examined the change of human body after injecting virus. Well, these are all the past. So, they are not current generation's fault. However, Japanese government has never apologized. That's why many Koreans don't like Japan. For example, Germany apologized a lot for their faults during the Second World War. However, the similar country Japan didn't do that. 

 And the last is China. Chinese government try to steal our history in the past. In the past, like 1000 years ago, our country was also located in some part of nowadays China. And China is trying to change the history and say that country was actually an ancient China. So, this is a problem.

 Like this, we have a lot of problems with neighboring countries. I don't if your country also has same problem. Anyway, these are problems that should be solved.

Flag of China , Japan and North Korea

Border of North Korea and South Korea guarded by soldiers

Environment in Korea

Hey,

 This time, I want to explain about environmental issues in Korea. As you know, All the world is experiencing serious global warming. This also affects Korea a lot.

 Originally, Korea is a country with 4 seasons. So, you can experience various weathers such as raining, snowing, and shining. However, because of global warming, Korea's climate have been changed. Korea is getting hotter and hotter. So, Summer is getting longer, Spring and Fall are getting shorter. Someday in the future, spring and fall may disappear.

 However, there's more serious problem than climate changing in Korea. There are many big cities in Korea. As many people are concentrated in small area, a huge amount of air pollution is produced by vehicles. Therefore, air of large cities are polluted. So, government keep trying to make people use public transportation more than their own vehicles. Not only this, but also there's another reason of air pollution. In Spring, a lot of dust and polluted particles are come from China. This causes a smog and respiratory problems. Sometimes, it's even hard to open your eyes in the outside. So, this is really huge environmental problem in Korea.

 As I said, we have some problems related to the environment. However in general, Korea has very beautiful environment. We have 4 seasons, big rivers and mountains with trees and flowers. So, I love my country's nature except some problems.

4 seasons in Korea

Seoul's smog caused by dust from China

Education in Korea

 In Korea, Education is considered as the most important thing for both parents and children. This conception has led an intense competition among students. One positive side of the intense competition is that Korea achieved high educational level. However, there are lots of negative aspects of the intense competition. 

 

 As students are exposed to too competitive circumstances, they are forced to study a lot by their parents. Most Korean middle and high school students study until 22:00 everyday in school or private institutions. This situation makes their lives painful. 

 

 Also, students and parents only focus on test results. Students study only to get good grades. This conception takes creative thinking out from students. Even worse, some students commit suicide if they get low grades. Therefore, this is one major reason of high suicide rate in Korea. 

 Even though, Korea's high educational level has contributed to great economic development. Therefore, Korea's education system is a double-edged sword. 

Graph showing high educational level of Korea

Energy issue in Korea

Korea barely has natural resources. Therefore, Korea is one of major energy importers, importing nearly all of its oil needs and being the second-largest importer of natural gas in the world. 
Most energy production depends on fossil resources. So, Korean economy is easily affected by the price of oil.

Nowadays, Korea is developing alternative resources to reduce a dependence on fossil fuel. Some of them are solar power, wind plant, and tidal power plant. Especially, tidal power plant fits well to Korean geography. In the west coast of Korea, there's a huge difference in sea level during tides. Using this difference, we can produce electricity. So, this is a potential energy resource for future.

In Korea, people waste a huge amount of energy without concerning about lack of energy. However, energy in Korea is not abundant. So, government have made some laws to regulate energy consumption.