The Democracy Index 2020 report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on Feb. 2 said Korea regained the status of "full democracy" for the first time in five years. (Screen capture from EIU report)

By Elena Kubitzki and Kim Minji

Korea was ranked the 23rd most democratic country in a global survey.

The Democracy Index 2020 report released on Feb. 2 by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a research and analysis division of the British magazine Economist, said Korea received a score of 8.01 out of 10, up a hundredth of a point from last year. Thus the country regained its designation of "full democracy" from "flawed democracy" for the first time since 2014.

Korea's ranking remained the same as in 2019 among 167 countries surveyed.

Since 2006, the EIU has used the index to rank democracy worldwide based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties.

Japan and Taiwan newly joined Korea in the full democracy category, while France and Portugal were downgraded to flawed.

The EIU said, "The pandemic has highlighted the widening gap between a dynamic East and a declining West and is likely to further accelerate the shift in the global balance of power towards Asia."

Norway topped the index with a score of 9.81.

elenakubi@korea.kr