South Korea

Overview

Out of 72 countries, South Korea sits at #34 — #34 Most Cooked. Three departments are doing the heavy lifting here: political institutions (political polarization beats 75% of the field, just not in a good way), healthcare financing (catastrophic health spending, 83rd percentile), and housing policy bringing up the rear. Different agencies, same energy.

South Korea scores 28 out of 100, the global median sits at 27 — so this is 1 point above that line (higher means more cooked). Where the system is holding up: homicide rate (Homicide 0.5/100k) — better than 89% of countries tracked. None of this is really about South Korea specifically — it's about what's propping up the political institutions numbers underneath.

Sources: V-Dem + Global Peace Index (2025) · WHO / World Bank SDG 3.8.2 (2024) · OECD Affordable Housing Database (HC1.2) (2024)