More than 60 percent of the top stock rich in Korea made their fortunes through inheritance, drawing a stark contrast against those in the US, China and Japan, analysis showed Wednesday.

According to a report by CEO Score, a local corporate tracker, 25 of 40 Koreans, or 62.5 percent, amassed wealth through inheritance -- much more than those in Japan and the US, where 10 and 12 people, respectively, become rich through the transfer of wealth. China had only one beneficiary of inheritance. Little has changed from the figure in 2007, when 77.5 percent of the stock rich were heirs, much higher than 45 percent in the US and 35 percent in Japan at that time.

The report was based on Forbes’ annual study on the top 160 rich people in the four countries, tracking their wealth between 2007 and 2017.

Of the total, 112 people, or 70 percent, were self-made billionaires, and the rest were born with a silver spoon.

In comparison to 2007, the number of self-made rich people grew from 96 to 112, while the number of riches who inherited fortunes dropped from 64 to 48.

The total amount of wealth amassed by the top 160 people doubled in the last 10 years.

The value of their assets exceeded $1.6 trillion, a 103 percent increase from $818 billion in 2007.

The superrich in China saw the steepest increase in their assets, growing 191 percent from $120 billion in 2007 to $352.8 billion in 2017.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)