lies the impoverished, censored, terrifying Hermit Kingdom of North Korea. On the other

貧窮、有審查制度、令人害怕的隱士之國北韓，另一端

end is the wealthy, hyper-successful, Westernized nation of South Korea. Of course, by comparison,

則是富裕、成功、西化的國家南韓。當然，相比之下

South Korea obviously comes out on top, but we wanted to see how South Korea ranks with

南韓顯然勝於北韓．但我們想知道南韓與其他國家相比如何

the rest of the world. So, how powerful is South Korea?

所以說，南韓到底有多強大？

Well, South Korea, also known as the “Republic of Korea” is about 38 and a half thousand

南韓，又稱作大韓民國，大約有38500平方英哩

square miles, which is actually surprisingly small. They’re a little smaller than the

面積出乎意料地小，略小於

US state of Pennsylvania, and rank about 109th in the world for area. Within this relatively

美國的賓州，面積排名全世界第109名。在這比起來較小的國家中住著

small area live about 49 million people, putting them about 17rd in the world for population

4千9百萬人口，使得南韓成為世界上人口密度17名的國家

density. So what does this tightly compact mass of people do? Well, in a word, they “excel”.

在這個壅擠的國家人們在做什麼?兩個字"超越"

South Korea is the most developed East Asian country, and one of the most highly developed

南韓是東亞發展最好的，也是世界上高度發展國家之一

in the world. On the Human Development Index, South Korea beats out Japan as a result of

人權發展指數指出，南韓的高品質生活水準、薪資水平、教育程度

their ultra-high standard of living, level of income, education standards, and quality

以及健保制度的完善上都勝於日本

of healthcare. In the 1960s, their GDP was roughly the same as that of many poor African

在1960年代，他們的GDP大約等於貧窮的非洲國家

countries. Today they are the 14th largest economy in the world, with a GDP of 1.3 trillion

現在GDP則有1.3兆美元，成為世界上第14大經濟體

dollars. They managed this through unparalleled growth during the second half of the 20th

他們經濟崛起的時機在20世紀後半

century, in a period called “the Miracle on the Han River”. Since then, they’ve

人稱"漢江奇蹟"的時期。從那時起

invested in high tech “chaebols” or conglomerate companies to further strengthen their economy.

他們投資高科技的"chaebols"，或是集團，以強化他們的經濟

One of the largest cell phone manufacturers on earth, Samsung, is located in South Korea,

世界上最大的手機製造商之一，三星，即位於南韓

along with shipping giant Hyundai, and electronics producer, LG. The demand for South Korea’s

還有運輸業巨頭現代汽車、電子產品製造商LG。對於南韓產品的需求

yield has made them the 6th largest exporter overall. And it’s also because of this focus

使得南韓成為世界上第六大的出口國。在科技方面的耕耘

on tech that South Korea boasts the world’s fastest internet speeds. However, all this

使得南韓以擁有世界上最快的網速自豪。但，快速的工業化

rapid industrialization also means that South Korea is one of the worst carbon emissions

也使南韓成為世界上碳排放汙染最嚴重的國家

polluters.

之一

So with high marks in nearly every other regard, how does South Korea fare militarily? Even

幾乎在每個方面都有高評價的南韓，軍事方面如何？

higher. South Korea has the 7th most powerful military in the world, and is the smallest

答案是：更高。南韓軍隊是世界上第7強大的軍隊，是前十名中

country within the top ten list. South Korea uses its manufacturing and technology prowess

最小的國家。南韓利用他們製造業跟科技業的高超技術

to produce highly advanced weaponry to compliment their existing US and EU made tech. Additionally,

生產先進的軍備，可以與美國和歐盟的技術相提並論

the Republic of Korea has a strong military partnership with the US’s even stronger

另外，南韓跟強大的美國軍隊之間擁有緊密的軍事關係

military, in what is known as the ROK-US Alliance. One of Korea’s biggest reasons for having

人稱"美韓聯盟"。因為北方鄰國的威脅，促使南韓擁有

such a powerful military is their neighbor to the North. North Korea has a long standing

如此強大的軍隊。北韓長年以來

habit of attempting to provoke South Korea, and the two still maintain a heavily militarized

一直試圖要挑釁南韓，兩國之間仍然維持著重度軍事化的

border known as the DMZ.

邊界，又稱作非軍事區

So where does that leave the question at hand? Well, considering that Korea dominates most

所以還有哪些問題?南韓在

of the world in terms of standard of living, economy, military, education, healthcare,

生活水準、經濟、軍事、教育、健保跟科技都有著

and technology, there is no question that the Republic of Korea is surprisingly, and

優勢地位，毫無疑問地南韓的強大是

undeniably, super powerful.

令人驚艷且不可否認的

Will South and North Korea ever reunite? We’ve got a video on the subject right

南北韓究竟會不會合併？我們有相關主題的影片

here.. Thanks as always for watching. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss

謝謝收看，不想錯過我們的下一部影片的話

our next one!

請確定你訂閱了我們的頻道