Korea, South Government

What is the capital of Korea, South?

Country Name	South Korea
Full Country Name	Republic of Korea
Abbreviation	ROK
Local - Long	Taehan-min'guk
Local - Short	Han'guk
Etymology- history of name	derived from the Chinese name for Goryeo, which was the Korean dynasty that united the peninsula in the 10th century A.D.; the South Korean name "Han'guk" means "land of the Han," where "han" may have its origins in the native root for "great [leader]" (similar to the title "khan")
Government Type	presidential republic
Capital Name	Seoul; note - Sejong, located some 120 km (75 mi) south of Seoul, is being developed as a new capital
Capital - geographic coordinate	37 33 N, 126 59 E
Capital Time Difference	UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Independence	15 August 1945 (from Japan)
National Holiday	Liberation Day, 15 August (1945)
Constitution	effective 17 July 1948; amended several times, last in 1987

Korea, South Capital City Map

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Korea, South Government and Politics

Who is the president of Korea, South?

Executive Branch:	chief of state: President MOON Jae-in (since 10 May 2017); the president is both chief of state and head of government; Prime Minister CHUNG Sye Kyun (since 14 January 2020)serves as the principal executive assistant to the president, similar to the role of a vice president head of government: President MOON Jae-in (since 10 May 2017) cabinet: State Council appointed by the president on the prime minister's recommendation elections/appointments: president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a single 5-year term; election last held on 9 May 2017 (next to be held in March 2022); prime minister appointed by president with consent of National Assembly election results: MOON Jae-in elected president; percent of vote - MOON Jae-in (DP) 41.1%, HONG Joon-pyo (LKP) 25.5%, AHN Cheol-soo (PP) 21.4%, other 12%
Citizenship Criteria:	citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of South Korea dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Legal System:	mixed legal system combining European civil law, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought
Suffrage:	19 years of age; universal
Legislative Branch:	description: unicameral National Assembly or Kuk Hoe (300 seats statutory); 253 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 47 directly elected in a single national constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms) elections: last held on 13 April 2016 (next to be held on 15 April 2020) election results: percent of vote by party - NFP 33.5%, PP 26.7%, MPK 25.5%, JP 7.2%, other 7.1%; seats by party - MPK 123, NFP 122, PP 38, JP 6, independent 11 note: seats by party as of December 2019 - DP 129, LKP 108, BMP 28, JP 6, PDP 4, ORP 2, MP 1, independent 17
Judicial Branch:	highest court(s): Supreme Court of South Korea (consists of a chief justice and 13 justices); Constitutional Court (consists of a court head and 8 justices) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly; other justices appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the chief justice and consent of the National Assembly; position of the chief justice is a 6-year non-renewable term; other justices serve 6-year renewable terms; Constitutional Court justices appointed - 3 by the president, 3 by the National Assembly, and 3 by the Supreme Court chief justice; court head serves until retirement at age 70, while other justices serve 6-year renewable terms with mandatory retirement at age 65 subordinate courts: High Courts; District Courts; Branch Courts (organized under the District Courts); specialized courts for family and administrative issues
Regions or States:	9 provinces (do, singular and plural), 6 metropolitan cities (gwangyeoksi, singular and plural), 1 special city (teugbyeolsi), and 1 special self-governing city (teukbyeoljachisi) provinces: Chungbuk (North Chungcheong), Chungnam (South Chungcheong), Gangwon, Gyeongbuk (North Gyeongsang), Gyeonggi, Gyeongnam (South Gyeongsang), Jeju, Jeonbuk (North Jeolla), Jeonnam (South Jeolla) metropolitan cities: Busan (Pusan), Daegu (Taegu), Daejeon (Taejon), Gwangju (Kwangju), Incheon (Inch'on), Ulsan special city: Seoul special self-governing city: Sejong
Political Parties and Leaders:	Democratic Party or DP [CHOO Mi-ae] (renamed from Minjoo Party of Korea or MPK in October 2016; formerly New Politics Alliance for Democracy or NPAD, which was a merger of the Democratic Party or DP (formerly DUP) [KIM Han-gil] and the New Political Vision Party or NPVP [AHN Cheol-soo] in March 2014) Justice Party [SIM Sang-jeong] New Conservative Party for Reform [Joo Ho-young] (tentatively named new party to be launched 24 January 2017) New Frontier Party (NFP) or Saenuri (formerly Grand National Party) [In Myung-jin, interim leader] People's Party or PP [KIM Dong-cheol, interim leader]
International Law Organization Participation:	has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
International Organization Participation:	ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, Arctic Council (observer), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CD, CICA, CP, EAS, EBRD, FAO, FATF, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club (associate), PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNMOGIP, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic Representation in the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador AHN Ho-young (since 7 June 2013) chancery: 2450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-5600 FAX: [1] (202) 797-0595 consulate(s) general: Agana (Guam), Anchorage (AK), Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle
Diplomatic Representation from US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Mark William LIPPERT (since 21 November 2014) embassy: 188 Sejong-daero, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-710 mailing address: US Embassy Seoul, Unit telephone: [82] (2) 397-4114 FAX: [82] (2) 725-0152

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