Korea, South - Economic sectors

South Korea's economy has undergone a very impressive development experience. Through economic planning, its government modernized the agricultural sector, established a large industrial sector, and helped create a service sector. Its extensive regulations have largely protected domestic enterprises from foreign competition and helped them grow and consolidate over time. Government polices and practices, including generous loans, have stimulated economic growth. The 1997 financial crisis damaged the South Korean economy as a whole and forced it to contract in 1998, but the economy began its

recovery in 1999 and continued it in 2000, an indicator of the strength of its sectors. At the beginning of the 21st century, South Korea's smallest economic sector, in terms of contribution to GDP, is agriculture, including forestry and fisheries. Second largest is the industrial sector, which consists of manufacturing, construction, and mining, a vital sector of which manufacturing accounts for the bulk of South Korea's expanding exports. As with agriculture, industry's share of GDP is declining while the service sector is growing, a phenomenon consistent with the maturity of the South Korean economy. The service sector is now the largest and the fastest growing economic sector, accounting for the largest share of GDP.