The Korean peninsula is located between China and Japan. After the Second World War, the Republic of Korea was established in the southern half of the Korean peninsula. South Korea has a total area of 98 480 km2 and a population of 48 598 175 (July 2004 estimate). The per capita gross domestic product (GDP), in terms of purchasing power parity, is US$17 700 (2003 estimate) (Central Intelligence Agency, 2004). The illiteracy rate (among those aged over 15 years) is 1.9% (0.7% for males and 3% for females) (2003 estimate). Life expectancy at birth is 75.6 years (72.0 years for males and 79.5 years for females) and the infant mortality rate is 7.2 per 1000 births (2004 estimate). The unemployment rate is 3.4% (2003 estimate). The proportion of the population aged 65 and over is currently 8.7% (2004 estimate) (Korea National Statistics Office, 2003). Over 40% of the total Korean population (i.e. some 20 million) lives in Seoul and its vicinity. South Korea is highly urbanised and modernised. Besides central government, local government is based on seven metropolitan cities and

nine provinces.

Mental health services

There is one hospital bed for every 148 citizens and one psychiatric bed for every 1446. There is one physician for 830 citizens and one psychiatrist for every 19 500 (2002 estimates).

The basic healthcare needs of the Korean population are covered by universal public health insurance, funded by premiums, not taxes. This is compulsory, and there is no private health insurance. None the less, the private sector accounts for approximately 90% of mental health services, as there are too few public facilities. However, the government is responsible for free nationwide healthcare funded by taxes for the poor and aged. Thanks to an active community mental health movement in the public and private sector of psychiatry, since 1995, 242 public health centres nationwide have registered to take care of people with mental illness, including elderly people with dementia or stroke. In 2002, there were 989 specialist mental health facilities in South Korea: 46 community mental health centres, 66 social rehabilitation facilities, 74 mental hospitals, 207 general hospitals with psychiatric out-patient departments, 541 psychiatric clinics and 55 nursing homes.