What it means to be a 'developed country'

South Korea has come a long way to earn the honourable title from a poverty-stricken post-war country in the 1950s.

THE news that the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development recently upgraded South Korea from a “developing country” to a “developed country” elated the Korean people greatly.

Although the new title may not sound particularly fancy and South Korea may have been a developed country for some time already, Koreans still appreciate the official recognition.