May 06, 2018 21:04:00

Here are nine graphs showing the differences between North and South Korea

By

Dickson Phua

At the North-South Summit held on April 27, 2018, North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in crossed the border into each other's country, marking a historic milestone in the history of North-South relations. Since then, North Korea has declared that it will dismantle its testing site, saying that there is no longer a need for nuclear testing , and a US-North Korea summit with US President Trump is expected to be held in May 2018, showing signs of rapid change. As the situation in North Korea may change dramatically in the future, the nine differences between North Korea and South Korea compiled by the British BBC are interesting to remember.

Nine charts that tell you all you need to know about North Korea - BBC News
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41228181

◆1. Hereditary system vs. democracy
Since the Korean Peninsula was divided into North and South Korea in 1948, North and South Korea have had a significantly different number of leaders who led their countries. North Korea has only had three supreme leaders, Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un, all of whom were hereditary. Meanwhile, South Korea has had 12 presidents, from the first president, Syngman Rhee, to current president, Moon Jae-in, and has led 19 administrations.

2. The mobile phone penetration rate in North Korea is 1 in 7.5 people
Although this is data from 2015, the number of mobile phone contracts in use in North Korea is 3.2 million. At the time, North Korea's population was about 24 million, so only 1 in 7.5 people owned a mobile phone. Meanwhile, the number of contracts in South Korea was 51 million, more than twice the population of North Korea.

The majority of users in North Korea are concentrated in the capital, Pyongyang. North Korea's mobile phone carrier was monopolized by

Koryolink , a joint venture between the Egyptian telecommunications company Orascom Telecom and the Korea Post and Communications Corporation (KPTC), but it has been reported that a second mobile communication operator entered the market in July 2015.

◆3. There is a difference in average height between the north and south
According to Professor Daniel Schweckendiek of Seoul's Sungkyunkwan University, the average height of North Korean defectors who crossed the border into South Korea is about 3 to 8 cm shorter than the average South Korean, who is 174.5 cm tall. Schweckendiek denies that it is a genetic factor, because the people of North and South Korea are the same people who lived in the same country until a few decades ago. The difference in average height is thought to be mainly due to food shortages in North Korea due to food conditions.

4. Most of the roads in North Korea are unpaved.
According to data from 2006, only 3% of the 25,554 km road network in North Korea is paved, while the remaining 97% is unpaved. In contrast, 92% of the roads in South Korea are paved. In North Korea, there are 11 cars per 1,000 people, and the majority of the population uses public transportation such as buses.

5. North Korea's main export product is coal
North Korea's main export source is briquettes made from coal, which is estimated to have earned it $952 billion (approximately 100 billion yen). On the other hand, South Korea's main export product is 'electronic circuit boards' for smartphones, which is estimated to have earned it $63.8 billion (approximately 7.45 trillion yen).

6. The economic gap between the North and South began to emerge around 1975
The GDP of North Korea and South Korea remained at roughly the same level until 1974, but South Korea began to show significant growth around 1975. The main drivers of this growth were conglomerates such as Samsung and Hyundai Motors. North Korea's GDP remained stable for a long time, but its economy fell into a steep decline in the mid-1990s due to factors such as international economic sanctions and famine.

◆7. North Korea surpasses South Korea in military capabilities
North Korea has a military strength of about 1.19 million, about twice that of South Korea's 630,000. Despite North Korea having the 52nd largest population in the world, its military strength is thought to be the fourth largest in the world. The number of tanks, submarines, and artillery far exceeds that of South Korea, but the number of aircraft is smaller than South Korea. This is because North Korea cannot import new weapons from other countries, and it is believed that old Soviet-made fighter jets are still in use in North Korea.

8. North Korea has a shorter life expectancy
The average life expectancy in North and South Korea is shown in a graph like this. The graph for South Korea (green) continues to rise in a straight line, reaching about 83 years as of 2015, while the graph for North Korea (red) dropped significantly around 1990, reaching about 70 years as of 2015.

9. However, North Korea's birth rate exceeds that of South Korea.
North Korea is far behind South Korea in terms of average life expectancy, but its birth rate per 1,000 people is about 15, roughly double South Korea's 8. In South Korea, the declining birth rate is seen as a problem, and the government has implemented policies such as subsidies, but the birth rate has not increased.