Economic Freedom Summary Index, Economic Freedom of the World, 16 Oct 2024
2022 overall score: 7.52, rank: 32
Territory in northeast Asia, ruled since 1948 by the Daehanminguk
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and lying east to the Asian mainland. The name Korea is derived from Goguryeo which was one of the great powers in East Asia during its time, ruling most of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria, parts of the Russian Far East and Inner Mongolia, under Gwanggaeto the Great. South Korea lies in the north temperate zone and has a predominantly mountainous terrain. It comprises an estimated 51.4 million residents distributed over 100,363 km². The capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population of 10 million.
Geographical type: Territory
Latitude: 36° N — Longitude: 128° E
Area: 100,210 km²
ISO 3166-2 code: KR
Measures of Freedom
Human Freedom Index [PDF], The Human Freedom Index 2023: A Global Measurement of Personal, Civil, and Economic Freedom
2021: 8.12, Rank: 28, Personal freedom: 8.58, Economic freedom: 7.47
2021: 8.12, Rank: 28, Personal freedom: 8.58, Economic freedom: 7.47
South Korea | Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2024
2016: Status: Free, Aggregate Score: 83, Political Rights: 2, Civil Liberties: 2
2016: Status: Free, Aggregate Score: 83, Political Rights: 2, Civil Liberties: 2
The April 2015 suicide of businessman Sung Wan-jong, who left a note implicating senior government officials in corruption, shook the administration of President Park Geun-hye and prompted the resignation of Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo. Other allegations of corruption in recent years had prompted the passage in March of an anticorruption law that made it easier to convict government officials accused of bribery, but the law was criticized for also including journalists and educators.
Articles
North Korea's Nukes: Why Now?, by Justin Raimondo, 11 Oct 2006
Comments on the first North Korean nuclear test and the political prospects for the Korean peninsula, considering also China and the United States
Comments on the first North Korean nuclear test and the political prospects for the Korean peninsula, considering also China and the United States
The South Koreans, prevented by their American overlords from implementing their "sunshine policy" of increasing ties to the North and eventually effecting a peaceful reunification, are now completely at a loss as to what to do ... The United States is the single greatest obstacle to a peaceful, reunified Korean peninsula. The reason for this is, simply put, because Washington adamantly refuses to end its 50-year-plus military occupation of the South ... South Korea proceeded along the path to democracy in spite of, rather than with the assistance of, the American occupiers.
Interviews
Interview with John Hospers, by John Hospers, Karen Minto, Full Context, May 1998
Topics discussed include: intellectual influences, respected philosophers, determinism, David Kelley, Ayn Rand, philosophy and Objectivism in universities, the Sense of Life documentary and Atlas Shrugged
Topics discussed include: intellectual influences, respected philosophers, determinism, David Kelley, Ayn Rand, philosophy and Objectivism in universities, the Sense of Life documentary and Atlas Shrugged
Hospers: ... I saw a paper that was so clear, and had such elegant simplicity, that I could barely believe it ... The girl who wrote it was from Korea and had learned English only six years before ... She had learned it "the correct way," as a foreign language, paying attention to grammar and construction. How had this girl ... come to do better than any of the American-born students? I remembered that until after World War II, Korea had been controlled by Japan, and no Korean was permitted to embark on higher education. There it was—in a few years the Koreans have got way ahead of us ...
The introductory paragraph uses material from the Wikipedia article "South Korea" as of 1 Oct 2018, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.