SEOUL, South Korea—A member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Group-of-20 major economies, this country ranks today as the world’s 11th-largest economy by nominal GDP and 13th by purchasing power parity (PPP) based on the world’s economic ranking.
According to Investopedia, “PPP is determined in each country based on its relative cost of living and inflation rates. Purchasing power plus parity ultimately means equalizing the purchasing power of two differing currencies by accounting for differences in inflation rates and cost of living.”
Having pursued an industrialization policy, this leading tiger economy in East Asia rose at an annual average economic growth of 10 percent for 30 years onward beginning with the Saemaul Undong Movement (Park Chung-hee,1962-1966) that rapidly transformed the country into a high-income economy, known as the “Miracle on the Han River.”
It has an advanced trimodal (air-land-water) transportation system that cohere with one another, making movements of people and commerce faster and easier from any point of the country, with this city as the hub.
Busan or the Port of Busan, the second-largest city, where this writer toured the other day, is now one of the world’s shipbuilders of any size. By train, it’s only three hours from here, a route travelers will surely not find a dull moment to watch a modern countryside scenery with rolling mountains, modern farming communities, industrial enclaves, high-rise residences and concrete bridges over clean rivers and streams.
With OECD’s third-largest budget surplus, the world’s fifth-largest exporter and the seventh-largest importer, this country now is one of Asia’s most advanced economy and democracy with fundamental rights protected by the most developed rule of law in this part of the world.
Because of its fully developed educational system, universal health care, freedom of religion and high civil liberties, the country saw the fast rise of a globally influential and multidimensional culture that included K-pop and K-drama, a highly fashionable style known as the “Korean Wave.”
Home to the United Nations Green Climate Fund, it is a leader in low-carbon green growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major contributor in the UN Development Index, having had a high level of social cohesion and is rated highly in peaceful tolerance and inclusion of minorities.
In the Human Development Index, it is East Asia’s most developed country and the world’s eighth-highest median household, the highest in Asia, and the country’s singles, in particular, earn more than all Group-of-Seven nations. Globally, it ranks highly in personal safety, job security and ease of doing business.
As a leading OECD nation in graduates in science and engineering, this country is home to Samsung, the world’s leading smartphone and TV maker, LG and Hyundai-Kia; and is named by the Bloomberg Innovative Index as the globe’s most innovative country in economic research and development intensity and patents filed per GDP.
In cyber-technology ratings, it has the world’s fastest Internet speed and highest smartphone ownership, ranking first in information and communication technologies development, e-government and 4G LTE coverage, thus, becoming the globe’s first country to fully transition to high-speed Internet and the world’s first mobile TV broadcast with 97 percent of cell phones already having Internet access.
Its rigorous educational system and the establishment of a highly motivated and educated populace is largely responsible for spurring the country’s high technology boom and rapid economic development.
Having almost no natural resources and always suffering from overpopulation in its small territory, which deterred continued population growth and the formation of a large internal consumer market, it adopted an export-oriented economic strategy to fuel its growth, and, thus, became the only developed country included in the group of Next Eleven.
Born out of the ancient Kingdom of Goguryeo, South Korea, also known as Koryŏ, is now a highly urbanized country at 92 percent, with a distinctive urban lifestyle, half of them live in modern condominiums concentrated in this capital with 25 million people, making it the world’s sixth leading city. Three-quarters of this country is mountainous, making it a popular winter-sport destination in Asia, and chosen to be the host of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
This country is one of the world’s oldest civilizations as shown by earliest Korean pottery dating back to 8000 B.C., with three kingdoms flourishing at first-century B.C. One of them, Goguryeo, ruled Northeast China, parts of Russia and Mongolia under Gwanggaeto the Great.
Since their unification into Silla and Balhae in the seventh century, Korea enjoyed over a millennium of relative tranquility under long lasting dynasties with innovations, like Hangul, the unique alphabet created by Sejong the Great in 1446, enabling anyone to easily learn to read and write. Its rich and vibrant culture left 17 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third-largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites.
Then Imperial Japan annexed this country in 1910 due to its strategic and central location, and after its surrender in 1945, it was divided into North and South Korea. A North Korean invasion led to the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Peace has since then continued to prevail, after the countries agreed to discuss unification.
This country, though, has the world’s 10th-largest defense budget to make sure it can defend itself from any threat.
To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@gmail.com.