At stake in this election:

• The office of President of South Korea

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President ROH Moo-hyun
• Head of Government: Prime Minister HAN Duck-soo
• Assembly: South Korea has a unicameral National Assembly (Kukhoe) with 299 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament.
• In the National Assembly (Kukhoe), 243 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 56 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• LEE Myung Bak
  • Party: Grand National Party (GNP)
• JUNG Dong Young
  • Party: United New Democratic Party (UNDP)
• LEE Hoi Chang
  • Party: Independent
• MUN Guk-Hyun
  • Party: Creative Korea Party
• HUH Kyung-Young
  • Party: Economic Republican Party
• LEE In-Je
  • Party: Democratic Party

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 48,597,652 (2007)
• Registered Voters: 37,653,518 (2007)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 24,361,405 (2007)

·         Is South Korea a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (25 May 1983)

·         Has South Korea ratified CEDAW: Yes (27 December 1984)

·         Gender Quota: Yes[5]

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 39 (following the 2004 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 17 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is South Korea a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has South Korea ratified CRPD: Yes (11 December 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 7,289,647 (est.)