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South Korea vs. North Korea

Resource • ~17 min

Divided from a single nation in the mid-twentieth century, the market-based south became a wealthy, globally connected economy while the command-economy north fell into isolation and recurring hardship.

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Key takeaway

One people, one peninsula, two systems. The contrast in prosperity and freedom is visible from space.

Korea was divided in the mid-twentieth century, and after the Korean War the two halves went in opposite economic directions. South Korea built a market economy open to trade and private enterprise. It grew from one of the poorest countries in the world into a high-income, technologically advanced economy, home to globally recognized companies. North Korea built a closed command economy under tight state control. It suffered isolation, stagnation, and a devastating famine in the 1990s, with living standards a fraction of the south's. The most famous illustration is a satellite photo of the peninsula at night: South Korea is blanketed in light, while North Korea is almost entirely dark. Same peninsula, same people, one image that captures the difference between the two systems.

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