South Korea Ranks 48th in Global 'Peaceful Country' Survey... Up 9 Places from Last Year

North Korea ranks 151st out of 163 countries... drops 1 spot

World Peace Map. The closer to blue, the more peaceful; the closer to red, the more unstable. / Photo by Economic Peace Institute 2020 World Peace Index Report

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lim Juhyung] South Korea ranked 48th in the global 'peaceful countries' ranking, rising 9 places compared to last year.

According to the 'Global Peace Index (GPI) 2020' report released on the 10th (local time) by the Australian think tank Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), South Korea scored 1.829 points, placing 48th out of 163 countries.

The GPI compiles scores based on 23 indicators across three categories related to peace: 'ongoing domestic and international conflicts,' 'societal safety and security,' and 'militarization.' The closer the total score is to 1, the more peaceful the country is.

In this survey, out of 163 countries, 81 countries became more peaceful compared to last year, while 80 countries either worsened or remained stagnant.

North Korea scored 2.962 points, ranking 151st, dropping one place from last year.

The most peaceful country in this GPI ranking was Iceland (1.078), which has held the top spot since 2008. Following Iceland were New Zealand, Portugal, Austria, and Denmark, ranking 2nd to 5th respectively.

The least peaceful country was Afghanistan (3.644), with Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, and Yemen also ranking at the bottom.

Meanwhile, in the 'COVID-19 and Peace' report released by IEP on the same day, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand were identified as countries with high peace and economic resilience after the pandemic, while Italy, Greece, Latvia, and Poland were noted as countries with lower resilience.

In this report, South Korea was categorized alongside the United States, China, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania as a country with moderate resilience.

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