Heritage: "Korean Economic Freedom Ranking Rises 4 Spots to 25th Worldwide"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] South Korea's level of economic freedom ranked 25th in the world, rising four places from last year. The improvement was attributed to higher scores in the rule of law category, including property rights.

According to the "2020 Index of Economic Freedom" report published on the 18th by the conservative American think tank Heritage Foundation, South Korea ranked 25th out of 180 countries surveyed this year. South Korea's ranking fell from 23rd in 2017 to 27th in 2018 and 29th in 2019, but rose this time. Among 42 Asia-Pacific countries, it ranked 7th.

This index is calculated by evaluating 12 items across four categories: rule of law, size of government, regulatory efficiency, and market openness. South Korea scored 74 out of 100 this year, up 1.7 points from last year. It was classified as a "mostly free country (70?79.9 points)," the second highest of six overall categories.

The foundation explained that South Korea's score in the rule of law category improved this year. The foundation pointed out, "A robust legal system is in operation, but chronic corruption undermines government trust and fairness." It also identified challenges facing President Moon Jae-in, including aging population, labor productivity, and export-dependent economic structure.

Meanwhile, the average score of all surveyed countries was 61.6 points. Singapore ranked first with 89.4 points, followed by Hong Kong (89.1 points), New Zealand (84.1 points), Australia (82.6 points), Switzerland (82.0 points), and Ireland (80.9 points). North Korea scored 4.2 points this year, ranking last at 180th place. North Korea has remained at the bottom for 26 consecutive years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.