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South Korea’s population reached 48.219 million this year, a 2 percent increase from 2005, according to the preliminary results of the 2010 census released by Statistics Korea on Tuesday.
The growth rate during this period slowed from 2.5 percent between 2000 and 2005 and 3.4 percent in the preceding five years.
The preliminary results of this year's census show that almost 49 percent of the population lives in the capital region, which includes Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, demonstrating a severe concentration of people in the area. The figure represents an increase from 48.2 percent in 2005 and 46.3 percent in 2000.
The number of one-person households grew to over 4 million this year, from 3.171 million in 2005 and 2.224 milion in 2000, the data show.

12 districts in free economic zones to be downgraded
The government said Tuesday it will deprive 12 underperforming districts in the nation's free economic zones of their status in order to refocus development plans in those areas.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy conducted a comprehensive performance evaluation of 93 districts in six free economic zones early this year and identified 12 districts as performing below expectations.
It will officially de-list the selected FEZ districts in January or February -- including Yeongjong City in the Incheon FEZ., the green belt regions of the Busan-Jinhae FEZ, the rear Gunsan area of the Saemangeum-Gunsan FEZ and the Yeosu Airport area. The districts account for 16 percent of the nation's free economic zones in terms of size.

Gwanghwamun signboard to be replaced
The controversial signboard of Gwanghwamun, the iconic gate of Gyeongbok Palace, will be replaced, the National Heritage Administration said Tuesday.
Last month, the wooden signboard on which the gate's name was written in Chinese characters was found to have a vertical crack running down the left side of the character, "Gwang," which means "light," just three months after the celebrated opening of the newly-restored gate.
(Yonhap News Agency)

S. Korean intelligence officer expelled from China
A South Korean Army major surnamed Cho was expelled by Chinese authorities this year after a post-trial detention that lasted for more than a year, South Korean military officials said Tuesday. Cho had been detained for allegedly collecting information on North Korea.
The officer was arrested by Chinese security police in July 2009 in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang and sentenced to a three-year jail term by a Chinese court for alleged espionage, the officials said. He was reportedly sent to South Korea in September.
Observers criticised the South Korean government for being unable to protect its intelligence agents.

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