Yearbook 2008
South Korea. According to
Countryaah reports, South Korea's perhaps biggest cultural
treasure, Namdaemunporten, was totally destroyed in February
in a created fire. The gate, which was built in 1398, was
made of wood and constituted a remnant of the old city wall
that surrounded Seoul.
The country's newly elected president Lee Myung Bak
quickly took a much tougher stance on North Korea than did
former presidents Roh Moo Hyun and Kim Dae Jung. It prompted
North Korea to warn in April that Lee's attitude could have
"disastrous consequences".
That same month, President Lee's Conservative Party of
the Great National Party (GNP) won a victory in the
parliamentary elections with 153 of the 299 seats. The
Liberal Democratic Party (UDP) won 81 seats and became the
second largest party, even though its number of seats was
halved compared to the last election. Han Seung Soo from the
GNP was named Prime Minister. The 72-year-old diplomat He
had previously been both finance minister and foreign
minister.
During the year, relations with North Korea deteriorated
again, after some bright spots were noted in 2007. In March,
President Lee demanded greater respect for human rights on
the part of North Korea and that the neighboring country
followed the agreements on disarmament of the North Korean
nuclear program previously signed. Otherwise, South Korea
threatened to withdraw assistance. A low-water mark in the
relationship came in July when a North Korean soldier shot
to death a South Korean woman visiting the special tourist
zone on the Kumgang Mountains inside North Korea. The woman
must have accidentally entered a military barricade.
In October, the country's banks were hit by the
international financial crisis. The South Korean banks had
incurred high foreign debt and were now finding it difficult
to pay off the loans. The same month, the government
presented a financial rescue package of the equivalent of
USD 130 billion to stabilize the banking system.
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