The Korean Peninsula might be one of the most incongruous areas in the world.
At one end lies the impoverished, censored, terrifying Hermit Kingdom of North Korea.
On the other end is the wealthy, hyper-successful, Westernized nation of South Korea.
Of course, by comparison, South Korea obviously comes out on top, but we wanted to see how
South Korea ranks with the rest of the world.
So, how powerful is South Korea?
Well, South Korea, also known as the “Republic of Korea” is about 38 and a half thousand
square miles, which is actually surprisingly small.
They’re a little smaller than the US state of Pennsylvania, and rank about 109th in the
world for area.
Within this relatively small area live about 49 million people, putting them about 17rd
in the world for population density.
So what does this tightly compact mass of people do?
Well, in a word, they “excel”.
South Korea is the most developed East Asian country, and one of the most highly developed
in the world.
On the Human Development Index, South Korea beats out Japan as a result of their ultra-high
standard of living, level of income, education standards, and quality of healthcare.
In the 1960s, their GDP was roughly the same as that of many poor African countries.
Today they are the 14th largest economy in the world, with a GDP of 1.3 trillion dollars.
They managed this through unparalleled growth during the second half of the 20th century,
in a period called “the Miracle on the Han River”.
Since then, they’ve invested in high tech “chaebols” or conglomerate companies to
further strengthen their economy.
One of the largest cell phone manufacturers on earth, Samsung, is located in South Korea,
along with shipping giant Hyundai, and electronics producer, LG.
The demand for South Korea’s yield has made them the 6th largest exporter overall.
And it’s also because of this focus on tech that South Korea boasts the world’s fastest
internet speeds.
However, all this rapid industrialization also means that South Korea is one of the
worst carbon emissions polluters.
So with high marks in nearly every other regard, how does South Korea fare militarily?
Even higher.
South Korea has the 7th most powerful military in the world, and is the smallest country
within the top ten list.
South Korea uses its manufacturing and technology prowess to produce highly advanced weaponry
to compliment their existing US and EU made tech.
Additionally, the Republic of Korea has a strong military partnership with the US’s
even stronger military, in what is known as the ROK-US Alliance.
One of Korea’s biggest reasons for having such a powerful military is their neighbor
to the North.
North Korea has a long standing habit of attempting to provoke South Korea, and the two still
maintain a heavily militarized border known as the DMZ.
So where does that leave the question at hand?
Well, considering that Korea dominates most of the world in terms of standard of living,
economy, military, education, healthcare, and technology, there is no question that
the Republic of Korea is surprisingly, and undeniably, super powerful.
Will South and North Korea ever reunite?
We’ve got a video on the subject right
here..
Thanks as always for watching.
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