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Policy profile on 12 axes

How South Korea Is Governed

South Korea is a unitary state that scores 0.74 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 36% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty remains in law but is not used and same-sex couples have no legal recognition. Below: the laws, institutions and public spending of South Korea, scored on the same 12 axes as the test, with every indicator and source.

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Policy profile

The 12 axes, indicator by indicator

This profile describes the country's policy regime (laws, institutions and public spending) from published indices, not the views of its people or its current leaders. Data as of October 2026; each value shows its own year.

Ownership+0.50PublicPrivate4 indicators and sources
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): Typical of OECD economies: state utilities, rail, post, some energy (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Property Rights (0-100): 89.6 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Investment Freedom (0-100): 60 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Financial Freedom (0-100): 60 (2026). Source
Markets+0.40PlannedFree5 indicators and sources
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Business Freedom (0-100): 81.5 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Labor Freedom (0-100): 55 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Monetary Freedom (0-100): 79.3 (2026). Source
  • Regulatory Quality, estimate (-2.5 to 2.5): 1 (2025). Source
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): Typical of OECD economies: state utilities, rail, post, some energy (2026). Source
Welfare+0.05SharedSelf-reliant4 indicators and sources
  • General government total expenditure (% of GDP): 35.94 (2025). Source
  • Public social spending (% of GDP): 15.33 (2024). Source
  • Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP): 4.91 (2024). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Tax Burden (0-100): 61.5 (2026). Source
Authority-0.75DemocraticStrong leader2 indicators and sources
  • Liberal Democracy Index (0-1): 0.74 (2025). Source
  • Judicial constraints on the executive (0-1): 0.87 (2025). Source
Security-0.35LibertyOrder4 indicators and sources
  • Freedom in the World civil liberties score (0-60): 50 (2025). Source
  • World Press Freedom Index score (0-100): 69.12 (2026). Source
  • Death penalty status: Abolitionist in practice (no executions for 10 years or a formal moratorium) (2025). No executions since 1997. Source
  • Prison population per 100,000 people: 115 (2023). Source
Structure+0.05LocalCentral2 indicators and sources
  • Territorial form of the state: Unitary state (2025). Source
  • Strong elected regional governments index (0-1): 0.96 (2025). Source
Morality-0.40ProgressiveTraditional3 indicators and sources
  • Same-sex marriage law (0 marriage, 1 civil union or partnership, 2 no recognition, 3 constitutional or statutory ban): No legal recognition (2026). Source
  • Abortion law: On request (within a gestational limit) (2025). Constitutional Court struck down the ban in 2019; no replacement law, so effectively on request. Source
  • Women, Business and the Law: Legal Framework Index (0-100): 85.63 (2025). Source
Religion-0.75SecularReligious2 indicators and sources
  • Religion and the state: Separation: no official or funded religion (2025). Source
  • Blasphemy or religious-insult law in force: None (2025). Source
Technology-0.65EmbraceCaution3 indicators and sources
  • Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 4.94 (2023). Source
  • Nuclear power policy: Building or officially planning new reactors (2025). Source
  • Genetically modified crop cultivation: None grown, no ban (2025). Source
Culture+0.20MulticulturalNational identity4 indicators and sources
  • International migrant stock (% of population): 3.5 (2024). Source
  • Citizenship by birth in the territory: None: citizenship by descent only (2025). Source
  • Residence required for ordinary naturalization (years; 0 = no ordinary route): 5 years (2025). Source
  • Dual citizenship for naturalizing adults: Restricted (some countries only, permission, or exceptions) (2025). Source
Trade-0.20GlobalProtected4 indicators and sources
  • Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products (%): 5.66 (2022). Source
  • Tariff rate, applied, simple mean, all products (%): 5.73 (2022). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Trade Freedom (0-100): 73 (2026). Source
  • Trade (exports + imports) (% of GDP): 86.36 (2025). Source
Foreign policy-0.25CooperationStrength5 indicators and sources
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 2.6 (2025). Source
  • Military conscription: Universal compulsory service (2025). Source
  • Nuclear weapons status (0 none, 1 considers, 2 pursues, 3 possesses): No nuclear weapons program (2023). Source
  • Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: State party (2026). Source
  • Collective defense commitments: Integrated military alliance (NATO, a US mutual defense treaty, ANZUS, CSTO) (2026). Source

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Policy neighbours

Governed most like South Korea

Every other country with a profile, tinted by how close its laws, institutions and public spending are to those of South Korea on the same 12 axes. The percentage uses the 12 Axes match formula.

  1. 1Japan87%
  2. 2Czechia86%
  3. 3Slovakia85%
  4. 4Romania84%
  5. 5Colombia83%
Least similarIran44%
World map of countries by how similar their policy regime is to South KoreaClosest: 1. Japan 87%, 2. Czechia 86%, 3. Slovakia 85%, 4. Romania 84%, 5. Colombia 83%, 6. Croatia 82%, 7. Sweden 82%, 8. Chile 81%, 9. Estonia 81%, 10. Netherlands 81%. Least similar: Iran 44%. Every country is in the list after the map.South Korea
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FAQ

South Korea: questions

How is South Korea governed, on the 12 axes?

South Korea is a unitary state that scores 0.74 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 36% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty remains in law but is not used and same-sex couples have no legal recognition. Its policy regime leans furthest toward Democratic on Authority (-0.75), Secular on Religion (-0.75) and Embrace on Technology (-0.65), on a scale from -1 to +1.

Which countries are governed most like South Korea?

On the same 12 axes, the closest policy regimes are Japan (87%), Czechia (86%) and Slovakia (85%). The furthest is Iran (44%). Matches use the same formula as the 12 Axes test.

Where does the data on South Korea come from?

From 42 indicators dated 2022 to 2026, published by V-Dem, Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the IMF, the OECD, the World Bank, SIPRI, Reporters Without Borders, the World Prison Brief, UN DESA and others. Among them: a press freedom score of 69.1 out of 100 (RSF, 2026), 115 prisoners per 100,000 people (2023), military spending of 2.6% of GDP (SIPRI, 2025) and 3.5% of residents born abroad (UN DESA, 2024). Every value, year and source is listed in the profile above.

Does the profile describe what people in South Korea think?

No. It describes the policy regime: laws, institutions and public spending. It does not measure public opinion or the speeches of the current government. To see which country is governed closest to your own views, take the 12 Axes test and open the country match on your result.

Which political figures from South Korea are on PoliticalTests?

So far Kim Dae-jung, each placed on the 12 axes of the 12 Axes Political Test from their own speeches, writings and record, with sources on the profile page. More figures are added over time.

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