S. Korea Ranked 33rd Most Peaceful Nation

South Korea is the 33rd most peaceful nation among 144 countries surveyed by the Institute for Economics and Peace in Sydney and the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit.

Bloomberg News quoted the survey as saying South Korea is less peaceful than Japan and France but more so than the United States and Britain.

Released every year since 2007, the peace survey has rated 23 items on a scale of 1-5. The criteria includes weapon exports, level of violent crime, estimated deaths due to wars, the number of incarcerated people, potential for terrorism, and political instability.

New Zealand was ranked the world’s most peaceful nation, followed by Denmark, Norway and Iceland. Japan was seventh, France 30th, Britain 35th, China 74th and the United States 83rd.

Iraq was rated the least peaceful nation, followed by Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel and Sudan. North Korea was named one of the world’s most unstable nations at 131st.

The surveyors said the global economic crisis has heightened world instability, adding 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars, or 4.4 percent of the global economy, is dependent on violence.

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