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South Korea's 2024 democracy rating descends to 'flawed'

Published: 28 Feb. 2025, 16:37 Updated: 28 Feb. 2025, 17:37

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Martial law troops are seen moving into the National Assembly building during President Yoon Suk Yeol's short declaration of emergency martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. [YONHAP]

South Korea’s democracy index fell 10 places from the previous year in 2024 to 32nd place out of 167 countries, dropping from the category of “full democracy” to “flawed democracy,” according to the Democracy Index 2024 released on Thursday by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The EIU, an economic analysis institute affiliated with the British weekly magazine The Economist, published the report on Thursday and ranked South Korea 32nd and demoting it to a “flawed democracy.”

“South Korea’s overall index score declined in 2024 to 7.75, from 8.09 in 2023, resulting in its reclassification as a ‘flawed democracy,’” the report said.

“Although South Korea’s parliament and the general public demonstrated the widespread respect for democratic institutions in the country, the [martial law] episode [on Dec. 3, 2024] served as a reminder of the comparatively short track record (37 years) and relative frailty of democracy in South Korea,” the report countered. “It refocused attention on the historical incidence of declarations of martial law (17 since 1948).

“Fallout from [President] Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law in 2024 is likely to persist in 2025, in the form of heightened polarization and tension in parliament and among the population,” the report assessed. “The courts are increasingly politicized and the law employed as a tool to attack political opponents. Public dissatisfaction with South Korea’s democracy could increase.”

Since 2006, the EIU has been evaluating 167 countries on five items, electoral process and pluralism, government function, political participation, political culture and civil liberties to calculate the level of democratic development.

A score of eight or higher is classified as a full democracy, six to eight points as a flawed democracy, four to six points as a hybrid regime, and four points or less as an authoritarian regime.

In this evaluation, South Korea scored 9.58 points for election process and pluralism, 7.50 points for government function, 7.22 points for political participation, 5.63 points for political culture and 8.82 points for civil liberties. In particular, the government function (8.57 points last year) and political culture (6.25 points) scores decreased compared to the previous year.

This is the lowest score South Korea has received since the index was first calculated in 2006, and it showed the ninth largest drop among 167 countries.

Meanwhile, North Korea maintained its ranking at 165th place, the same as last year, and its score remained unchanged at 1.08 points. The only countries that received lower scores than North Korea were Myanmar (0.96 points) and Afghanistan (0.25 points).

The global average score was 5.17 points, the lowest since 2006, following last year. The highest average global score was 5.55 points in 2015.

There are 25 countries classified as a full democracy, and only 6.6 percent of the world's population live in these countries. This is a significant decrease from 12.5 percent 10 years ago. On the other hand, two out of five people in the world live under what the EIU classifies as authoritarian regimes.

The EIU raised concerns about the decline of democracy, pointing out the cases of Pakistan, where violence broke out during elections, Russia, where President Vladimir Putin's widely considered “fake” election took place, and Burkina Faso, Mali, and Qatar, where elections were canceled, despite the fact that 2024 was a year of many elections.

In the country rankings, Norway ranked first for the 16th consecutive year with 9.81 points. It was followed by New Zealand (9.61 points), Sweden (9.39 points), and Iceland (9.38 points).

Among Asian countries, Taiwan ranked 12th with 8.78 points, and Japan maintained its 16th place with 8.48 points. China ranked 145th with 2.11 points, still included in the “authoritarian regime” category.

The United States rose one place from the previous year to 28th place with 7.85 points, but remained in the "flawed democracy" category.

“The U.S. score for civil liberties, as well as other categories, may come under considerable pressure during Trump’s second term as president,” the report said. “He and his team have spoken openly of their plans to expand the role of the military into domestic law enforcement, including to conduct mass deportations of undocumented migrants and to quell protests.”

In Europe, France fell three places to 26th place with a score of 7.99, and was reclassified from a “full democracy” to a “flawed democracy.” This was analyzed as a result of the political turmoil following President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement of an early general election, which led to a decline in trust in the government.

Ukraine fell one place to 92nd place with a score of 4.90, and Russia fell six places to 150th place with a score of 2.03.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]