From Ilbe:
26 reasons why Korea is objectively a great power
Before judging whether Korea is a great power, let’s make sure we know Korea’s development status. Being a developed country is clearly a different notion than being a great power. People are well-off in developed countries and great powers exert significant influence on the international stage. For example, China is not a developed country but it is a great power. To give you an answer first, Korea is undeniably a ‘developed’ country. Korea is classified as a developed country by all common criteria.
Lefty zombies may say, “Why is life so tough if Korea is a developed country? Korea is still a developing country if you consider public awareness, ke ke ke” but Korea is internationally recognized as a developed country. It’s not self-proclaimed. Most Koreans tend not to think Korea is a developed country, but foreign institutes already classify Korea as such.
It is certain that Korea is a developed, well-off country. Then let’s see whether Korea is average or above average, weak or strong through a 26 item checklist. First of all, let’s take a look at public security and democracy that those whiners always complain about, and then, economy and military.
You should keep in mind that there are more than 200 countries in the world. Top 5 means fucking superb, top 15 means superb and top 30 means good. Sometimes, you see retards who are like “Only 20th? 30th?”, but there are over 200 countries in the world. Top 20 means like top 10%.
1. Fragile States Index (2014)
2. Quality of Democracy (2013)
3. Democracy Index (2012)
4. World Competitiveness (2014)
5. World Competitiveness Within G20 (2009)
6. National Brands (2013)
7. GDP
PPP
8. 10 Biggest Trading Countries
9. The countries China imports the most from:
10. Motor Vehicle Production
11. Construction Industry’s Competitiveness
12. Most Innovative Countries (2014)
13. Steel Production
14. Semiconductor Sales
15. Military Expenditure (2012)
16. Firepower Index (2014)
17. Education System
18. Human Development Index (2013)
19. OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (2012)
20. International Tourist Arrivals (2011)
21. OECD Income Inequality (2010)
22. […]
23. Life Expectancy
24. Diplomacy Index (2011)
25. National Power Index (2011)
26. G20
So is Korea a great power? It is if you think India, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands are great powers.
Comments from Ilbe:
린샹:
What a load of bollocks. A great power is supposed to have strong diplomatic power, but whenever you watch news, Korea gets owned by neighboring countries due to shitty diplomacy. ^오^
더글라스맥아써: [Responding to above]
Just because Korea gets diplomatically owned by China, which is like number 2 in the world, and Japan? Duh;;
린샹: [Responding to above]
Conclusion: National power is relative. In a place with no tiger, a rabbit can be the king, but in a tiger den, weaker tigers are treated like house cats.
아이드로퍼:
Does it have any meaning if our country belongs to the top 10% of the world when you include Africa and all kinds of countries in Oceania? Ke ke.
뉴월.:
Korea may look like a great power if you only look at good things. Why not comprehensively consider things like suicide, unemployment and birthrates?
Dashoubi: [Responding to above]
Those contribute to whether the country is developed, not whether the country is a great power. Make the distinction.
팡버:
Ah…people are like this…because this is a developed country… [Sarcasm]
섹스박스360: [Responding to above]
Hey, think about it… Because this is a developed country, we can be as we are now. Even at this very moment, 2 billion people have trouble getting food. Somewhere in the world, a whole village is being massacred because they believe in the wrong religion. Take it easy…
아동확대:
Because you guys always look at countries like the US and Japan, you tend to underestimate your own country. If you travel Southeast Asia, you will realize that Korea is indeed a developed country, ke ke.
배지언:
That doesn’t make sense at all. The OP himself said a developed country is different from a great power. But he included indices for judging whether the country is developed, and then he claims Korea is a great power. So what is this about?
마르프:
What kind of developed country exports prostitutes and orphans?
레죵:
Compared to the size of the country, Korea is a great power, but they pick population, territory and natural resources as three essentials for a great power… Two of those are severely lacking in Korea, so there are obvious limitations.
차막:
Developed country? Complete horse shit. If you want to see whether a country is developed, you have to look at working conditions, and things besides those things in the post. The minimum wage is only 5 dollars and the economic structure depends on the conglomerate Samsung. Companies like Samsung, Hyundai and LG have become international, but their employees are world-renowned “hard workers”. This is not something to appreciate if you know how employees work at Google or Apple. Because of the hierarchy between big companies and their subcontractors, employees at big companies act like nobles and look down on employees at small companies. Moreover, small companies offer their employees no benefits besides bonuses and the employees often have to do someone else’s work. In developed countries such as the US and Japan that rose to power with manufacturing industries, small and mid-sized companies support big companies within a solid structure. In Korea, if a big company goes under, smaller companies go bankrupt in a chain reaction and the government does nothing about it. The government is encouraging young people to start their own businesses due to the youth unemployment problems, but that would only turn them into fish feed in the Han River. Due to low birthrates, an aging population, and free welfare, Korea will only flop in the future.
Dashoubi: [Responding to above]
If you think that way, there may be less than 10 countries that can be considered developed. Japan has big income inequality and the UK will be shaken if their financial industry flops. The Netherlands’ economy will flop if Shell flops. Are they not developed?
드립아트:
That is a really retarded collection of tables;; Did you analyze any of those indices in depth? Did you seriously look at how those were measured and what they could mean on the flip side? Why did you even put as many as 26 items?
시대흘러간다:
But you shouldn’t regard Korea as a developed country or a great power. A great power should have significant international presence which comes from economy and military strength. But our country depends too much on trade. If two regional great powers impose economic sanctions on Korea, Korea will be done. Korean economy is a heavily trade-dependent house of cards. Also, most of the main Korean export products can be immediately replaced by products from Japan, the US and Germany. You shouldn’t also think Korea is developed. There are too many small and big conflicts. The economic culture exploits and manipulates wages and there is boundless competition. Korea is physically affluent but mentally, it is not there at all.
로드FC:
There are too many Korea bashers and weeaboos on this site who try to make Korea look like some retarded shit hole, but Korea is decent. But you shouldn’t relax and masturbate. Our goal is to catch up with better-off countries and compete with them. We should never be satisfied with the current state. That would be the most dangerous thing. I hope Korea does better.
너희니머어:
Korea may be a developed country if you look at statistics, but there is a pile of social problems caused by rapid development. Who’s going to resolve them? Politicians? The establishment? Corporations? The public?
오늘의유물:
It is true that Korea is a developed country. Shit, all reputable international institutes say so but its citizens deny it, ke ke ke ke ke. It is a bit ambiguous whether Korea is a great power, but if your criteria are a little broad, you can consider Korea a great power. The OP put many irrelevant indices, which rather undermined the post’s credibility.
