Zuid-Korea Profiel Gouvernement

name: Seoul; note - Sejong, located some 120 km (75 mi) south of Seoul, is being developed as a new capital

geographic coordinates: 37 33 N, 126 59 E

time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

15 Augustus 1945 (from Japan)

Liberation Day, 15 Augustus (1945)

history: several previous; latest passed by National Assembly 12 Oktober 1987, approved in referendum 28 Oktober 1987, effective 25 Februari 1988

amendments: proposed by the president or by majority support of the National Assembly membership; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly membership, approval in a referendum by more than one half of the votes by more than one half of eligible voters, and promulgation by the president; amended several times, last in 1987; note - an amendment proposed in Maart 2018 that would change the presidential term to 4 years and increase the term limit to 2 failed in the National Assembly vote in Juni 2018 (2018)

19 jaar; universal

chief of state: President MOON Jae-in (since 10 May 2017); note - President PARK Geun-hye (since 25 February 2013) was impeached by the National Assembly on 9 December 2016; PARK's impeachment was upheld by the Constitutional Court and she was removed from office on 9 March 2017

head of government: Prime Minister LEE Nak-yon (since 1 June 2017); Deputy Prime Ministers KIM Dong-yeon (since 9 June 2017), KIM Sang-kon (since 4 July 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 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%