Country Analysis Report - South Korea - In-depth PESTLE Insights

The country analysis report on South Korea provides a wide array of analytical inputs to analyze the country’s performance, and the objective is to help the reader to make business decisions and prepare for the future. The report on South Korea analyzes the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) structure of South Korea. The report provides a holistic view of South Korea from historical, current and future perspective. Insightful analysis on critical current and future issues is presented through detailed SCPT (strengths, challenges, prospects and threats /risks) analysis for each of the PESTLE segments. In addition, the PESTLE segments are supplemented with relevant quantitative data to support trend analysis. The PESTLE country analysis report series provides an in-depth analysis of 50 major countries.

• Understanding gained from the country analysis report on South Korea can be used to plan business investments or market entry apart from a holistic view of the country. • Political section on South Korea provides inputs about the political system, key figures in the country, and governance indicators. • Economic section on South Korea outlines the economic story of the country to provide a balanced assessment on core macro-economic issues. • Social section on South Korea enables understanding of customer demographics through the income distribution, rural-urban segmentation and centres of affluence, healthcare and educational scenario in the country. • Technological section on South Korea provides strategic inputs on information communications and technology, technological laws and policies, technological gaps, patents data and relevant laws. • Legal section on South Korea provides information about the legal structure, corporate laws, business set-up procedures and the tax regime. • Environmental section provides information on environmental policies in South Korea and the performance in terms of important environmental indicators.

PESTLE analysis of South Korea identifies issues that affect the country’s performance through the prism of current strengths (strengths), current challenges (weaknesses), future prospects (opportunities) and future risks (threats). The political landscape discusses the evolution of the political scenario in South Korea in different periods. The economic, social, foreign and defence policies are considered in the political landscape section. It also discusses the performance of the country as per World Bank Governance Indicators. The economic landscape describes the evolution of the economy of South Korea in different periods. It also examines the country’s performance in terms of GDP growth, composition by sector (agriculture, industry and services), fiscal situation, international investment position, monetary situation, credit disbursement, banking sector and employment. The economic landscape also explains the financial system in the country, especially with regard to financial authorities/regulators. The social landscape covers the demographics, education and healthcare scenario in South Korea. The social welfare policies of the government along with the country’s performance in terms of healthcare, income distribution and education are also provided. The technological landscape discusses the structure and policies in terms of Intellectual property, research & development, technology agreements/pacts; and policies related to the promotion of technology in South Korea. The legal landscape examines the structure of the judicial system, legislation affecting businesses, tax regulations, labor laws, trade regulations and corporate governance in South Korea. The environmental landscape in South Korea discusses the environmental regulations and policies of the country. The performance of the country in terms of in terms of environmental indicators and impact of environmental policies is also examined.

"The 1997–98 regional financial crisis led to a short but sharp economic downturn in 1998, with the economy contracting by around 6.7%. In 1999 and 2000, the economy rebounded strongly on the back of the global recovery and improved competitiveness resulting from the sharp currency devaluation during 1997. The strong global outlook, combined with an accommodative monetary stance and strong consumer spending growth, led to a robust growth rate of 6.9% in 2002. South Korea's economy grew at a slightly lower rate of 4.7% in 2004. A supportive policy stance and benign external conditions helped the economy to grow at 4.1% in 2005. Continued labor market improvements, a strong employment scenario and increasing labor productivity increased the country’s growth to about 5% in 2006. The credit crisis of 2008–09 led to a global economic downturn, which affected South Korea's export market. Growth dropped to 2.2% in 2008, and the country's economy barely averted recession by expanding at 0.2% in 2009. The country’s economy bounced back to register a growth rate of 6.1% in 2010."

• What is the outlook in terms of political stability, policies towards businesses, external front and popularity of government in South Korea? • What is the economic performance of South Korea in terms of GDP growth, fiscal situation, international investment position, monetary situation, credit disbursement, and employment among other economic indicators? • What is the performance of South Korea in terms of healthcare, income distribution and education? • What is the performance of South Korea in technology intensive sectors like telecommunications and information technology, patents and R&D expenditure trends? • What is the legal structure in South Korea and are the laws conducive for investment? • What is the performance of South Korea in terms of environmental indicators and impact of environmental policies?

Table of contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview
Catalyst
Summary
Key Facts and Geographical Location
Key facts
Geographical location
PESTLE Analysis
Summary
Political analysis
Economic analysis
Social analysis
Technological analysis
Legal analysis
Environmental analysis
Political Landscape
Summary
Evolution
Structure and policies
Performance
Outlook
Economic Landscape
Summary
Evolution
Structure and policies
Performance
Outlook
Social Landscape
Summary
Evolution
Structure and policies
Performance
Outlook
Technological Landscape
Summary
Evolution
Structure and policies
Performance
Outlook
Legal Landscape
Summary
Evolution
Structure and policies
Performance
Outlook
Environmental Landscape
Summary
Evolution
Structure and policies
Performance
Outlook
Appendix
Ask the analyst
Datamonitor consulting
Disclaimer

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Map of South Korea
Figure 2: South Korea – key political events since independence
Figure 3: South Korea – key political figures
Figure 4: Distribution of seats by political parties in the 2008 elections of South Korea
Figure 5: Evolution of GDP growth in South Korea, 1991–2010
Figure 6: GDP and GDP growth rate of South Korea, 2004–14
Figure 7: Sector-specific GDP in South Korea
Figure 8: Agricultural output in South Korea, 2005–10
Figure 9: Industrial output in South Korea, 2005–10
Figure 10: Services output in South Korea, 2005–10
Figure 11: South Korea’s external trade position, 2006–10
Figure 12: CPI and CPI-based inflation in South Korea, 2004–14
Figure 13: Unemployed population and unemployment rate, 2004–14
Figure 14: Major religions in South Korea
Figure 15: Healthcare expenditure in South Korea, 2003–09
Figure 16: Growth of fixed and mobile phones in South Korea, 2002–10
Figure 17: Internet users in South Korea, 2002–12
Figure 18: R&D personnel in South Korea, 1995–2007
Figure 19: Judicial structure in South Korea
Figure 20: Carbon dioxide emissions in South Korea, 2002–12

TABLES
Table 1: South Korea – key fundamentals
Table 2: South Korea – key facts
Table 3: Analysis of South Korea’s political landscape
Table 4: Analysis of South Korea’s economic landscape
Table 5: Analysis of South Korea’s social landscape
Table 6: Analysis of South Korea’s technology landscape
Table 7: Analysis of South Korea’s legal landscape
Table 8: Analysis of South Korea’s environmental landscape
Table 9: Mid-year population by age (millions) in 2010
Table 10: Patents received by USPTO, 2003–10
Table 11: International environmental treaties signed and ratified by South Korea

Related research categories

By market: South Korea (in Asia)