In 2024, South Korea dropped out of category of "liberal democracy," a recent study suggested Monday.
V-Dem Democracy Report 2025, released by the Sweden-based V-Dem Institute under the University of Gothenburg, indicated that South Korea since last year can be categorized as an "electoral democracy," falling outside the list of 29 countries deemed to be "liberal democracies."
South Korea was one of 11 countries to experience a downgrade from one category to another, as well as one of 45 nations observed to be in an ongoing episode of autocratization, out of the 179 countries examined, according to V-Dem Institute.
Other autocratizing countries included Argentina, Bangladesh, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Myanmar, Pakistan, Romania and the Philippines.
South Korea was one of five East Asian countries to experience a substantial decline in the level of democratization, contrary to countries like Fiji, Solomon Islands, Thailand and East Timor, which were seeing improvements in democratization.
South Korea was also one of 13 countries that saw its autocratization worsening both in 2023 and 2024. Conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol has officially led the country since May 2022, though he has been suspended from his role since he was impeached on Dec. 14, 2024, in the aftermath of his brief martial law imposition on Dec. 3.
Though the report categorized South Korea as one of the "still democratic countries," it noted that media freedoms are being undermined.
The revelation was in line with the 2024 Democracy Index by Economist Intelligence Unit, which found in February that South Korea was downgraded to a "flawed democracy" in 2024 from a "full democracy" in 2023, with its level of democracy achieved ranking 32nd, down by 10 notches from the previous year.
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