Country profile · East Asia
South Korea
South Korea has 51.7 million people and the world's 13th-largest economy. President Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party was elected on June 3, 2025, after his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol was removed for declaring martial law. The United States is its treaty ally, and nuclear-armed North Korea calls it "the most hostile state".
Where South Korea ranks
All rankings →Who runs South Korea?
President Lee Jae-myung runs South Korea. He won a snap election on June 3, 2025 with 49.42% of the vote. The election was called after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on December 3, 2024. The National Assembly voted 190 to 0 to lift it, and the Constitutional Court removed Yoon on April 4, 2025. In February 2026 a Seoul court sentenced Yoon to life in prison for leading an insurrection. Lee grew up poor and worked in factories instead of going to middle school. A press there left his left arm permanently bent. He lost the 2022 election by 0.73 points, the closest in South Korean history, and was stabbed in the neck in January 2024. His approval fell to 37% in September 2026, mainly over housing prices (Gallup Korea).
- Democratic Party 161
- People Power Party 109
- Other parties, independents and 1 vacant seat 30
Portrait (2026): President's Secretariat of India, Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India
Who are South Korea's allies and rivals?
The United States has been South Korea's treaty ally since 1953 and keeps about 28,500 troops there. South Korea has pledged $350 billion of investment in the US, and in November 2025 it won US approval to build nuclear-powered submarines. Relations with Japan have warmed: President Lee and Prime Minister Takaichi have met three times since October 2025, although Japan still claims the Dokdo islets. China's President Xi Jinping visited in November 2025, but Chinese structures in a shared zone of the Yellow Sea are still disputed. North Korea formally named South Korea "the most hostile state" in March 2026 and has not answered President Lee's proposal for talks to end the Korean War. On September 21, 2026, North Korean mines in the DMZ wounded three South Korean military personnel.
Allies and partners
United StatesTreaty ally since 1953, about 28,500 troops
JapanThree summits since October 2025
PolandTook 58% of arms exports, 2021-25
AustraliaBuying 129 Hanwha Redback armored vehicles
Rivals
North KoreaCalls South Korea "the most hostile state"
ChinaStructures in a shared Yellow Sea zone
- Dokdo (Takeshima) Held by South Korea. Japan claims the islets as Takeshima and repeated the claim in its 2026 defense white paper.
- Yellow Sea structures Two Chinese aquaculture structures in a shared zone. South Korea says they violate a 2001 agreement.
- Yeonpyeong Island North Korea shelled the island in November 2010, killing two marines and two civilians.
- Camp Humphreys Largest US Army garrison in Asia. Headquarters of US Forces Korea.
- South Korea
- Partner
- Rival
Who does South Korea trade with?
South Korea exported a record $709.7 billion of goods in 2025 and imported $631.7 billion. China took 18.4% of exports and the United States 17.4%. Semiconductors were the top export at $173.4 billion, 24.4% of the total. Cars were second at a record $72.0 billion. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix made 65% of the world's DRAM memory chips by revenue in the second quarter of 2026 (Counterpoint). Demand for AI chips drove a boom in 2026. Exports from January to August reached $693.3 billion, with chips 40.5%. June was the first month above $100 billion. The US Supreme Court struck down the 15% US tariff on Korean goods in February 2026. Since July 24, 2026 most Korean goods pay 12.5%, cars 15% and steel 50%.
Sells to
Share of South Korea's exports
- China18.4%
- United States17.4%
Vietnam8.9%
Taiwan6.9%- Hong Kong4.9%
Buys from
Share of South Korea's imports
- China22.5%
- United States11.7%
- Japan7.7%
- Taiwan5.1%
- Australia5.1%
Goods trade, 2025. Shares of South Korea's exports and imports as South Korea reported them to UN Comtrade (Taiwan appears there as 'Other Asia').
How strong is South Korea's military?
South Korea has 450,000 active troops (IISS), down from 563,000 in 2019 because fewer young men are born each year. South Korea spent $47.8 billion on its military in 2025, 2.6% of GDP (SIPRI), and its 2026 budget is 65.9 trillion won. It signed $15.4 billion of arms export contracts in 2025 and was the 9th-largest arms exporter in 2021 to 2025 (SIPRI). The air force received its first production KF-21, a fighter developed in South Korea, on September 22, 2026. South Korea has no nuclear weapons. It joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1975, and under US pressure President Park Chung-hee suspended a secret weapons program in 1976. In an August 2026 Gallup Korea poll, 65% of South Koreans backed building their own, but President Lee rules it out.
SingaporeWhy is South Korea's birth rate so low?
South Korean women had 0.80 children on average in 2025, by the national statistics ministry's count, far below the 2.1 needed to keep a population stable. The rate first fell below 1 in 2018 and hit 0.72 in 2023. The chart shows the UN's estimate, 0.75. By each country's own count, Taiwan's rate (0.695) fell below South Korea's in 2025. Households spent 27.5 trillion won on private tutoring in 2025. Korean women earn 29% less than men, the widest gap in the OECD. In couples where both work, wives do 3 hours 32 minutes of housework a day and husbands 1 hour 24 minutes. Births have risen for 25 months in a row to July 2026. Experts put this down to the large generation born in 1991 to 1996 reaching their early 30s.
The lowest fertility rates, 2025 (children per woman)
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Thailand
ItalyUN World Population Prospects 2024