South Korea communication :
General
Communications services improved dramatically in the 1980s with the assistance of foreign partners and as a result of the development of the electronics industry. The number of telephones in use in 1987 reached 9.2 million, a considerable increase from 1980, when there were 2.8 million subscribers (which, in turn, was four times the number of subscribers in 1972).
Radio, and in more recent years television, reached virtually every resident. The Japanese established a radio station in Seoul in 1927; by 1945 there were about 60,000 radio sets in the country. By 1987 there were approximately 42 million radio receivers in use, and more than 100 radio stations were broadcasting. Transistor radios and television sets have made their way to the most remote rural areas. Television sets, now mass-produced in South Korea, became far less expensive; most city people and a significant number of rural families owned or had access to a television. Ownership of television sets grew from 25,000 sets when broadcasting was initiated in 1961 to an estimated 8.6 million sets in 1987, and more than 250 television stations were broadcasting.
Overview
Telephones - main lines in use |
: |
23.745 million (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular |
: |
38.342 million (2005) |
Telephone system |
: |
general assessment: excellent domestic and international services
domestic: NA
international: country code - 82; 10 fiber-optic submarine cables - 1 Korea-Russia-Japan, 1 Korea-Japan-Hong Kong, 3 Korea-Japan-China, 1 Korea-Japan-China-Europe, 1 Korea-Japan-China-US-Taiwan, 1 Korea-Japan-China, 1 Korea-Japan-Hong Kong-Taiwan, 1 Korea-Japan; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) and 3 Inmarsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) |
Radio broadcast stations |
: |
AM 61, FM 150, shortwave 2 (2005) |
Radio |
: |
47.5 million (2000) |
Television broadcast stations |
: |
43 (plus 59 cable operators and 190 relay cable operators) (2005) |
Televisions |
: |
15.9 million (1997) |
Internet country code |
: |
.kr |
Internet hosts |
: |
5.434 million (2005) |
Internet Service Provider |
: |
11 (2000) |
Internet Host |
: |
33.9 million (2005) |
