The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the mining industry in Korea is 2.5 trillion won. It accounts for 0.19% of the national GDP. Most mineral resources are imported to meet domestic demands. The mining industry is classified into non-fuel minerals, coal, and natural gas/crude oil. The domestic production rate of non-fuel miner- als is only 8.0%. The domestic production rate of non-metallic minerals in the non-fuel mineral cat- egory is 72.8%. Metallic minerals are mostly im- ported and their domestic production rate is 0.7%. About 1.6% of coal is produced domestically.

There are 6,581 registered mines, according to the Korea Mineral Resources Geographic Infor- mation System. The most common are coal mines (1,255), followed by limestone (767), quartzite (642), and gold (566). Geographically, Gang- won-do has the most mines (1,270), followed by Gyeongsangbuk-do (1,138), Chungcheongnam-do (984), and Chungcheongbuk-do (943).