N. Korea ranks last in U.S. economic freedom index

SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea ranked as the world's worst country in
terms of economic freedom for the 16th straight year in an annual survey
conducted by the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, according to
their websites Friday.

The communist state scored just one point out of a possible 100 in the 2010 Index
of Economic Freedom, taking the bottom spot among 179 countries surveyed, they
said.
North Korea has been the worst performer since the survey's inception in 1995.
The index, which excluded a handful of countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq,
said the North scored zeros in eight categories -- including business freedom,
investment freedom, labor freedom and government spending -- but salvaged five
points each in property rights and freedom from corruption.
South Korea ranked 31st among the 179 nations surveyed in the same index, rising
nine notches from 2009 and five notches higher than its decade high of 36th in
2007. The South earned 69.9 points in the index, which measures economic freedom
in 10 categories: business, investment, trade, property rights, government
spending, labor, finance, fiscal freedom, monetary freedom, and freedom from
corruption.
North Korea has scored fewer points each year since 2005. The survey estimated
that the isolated country had a gross domestic product of US$26.2 billion in
2008.
The North is one of the world's poorest countries, having depended on
international handouts since famine killed an estimated 2 million of its people
in the mid-1990s. Unable to generate energy for its debilitated economy, the
country has turned to international talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear arms
programs for fuel and other aid.
The talks remain stalled after North Korea boycotted them over U.N. condemnation
of its long-range rocket in April last year. The country went ahead with its
second nuclear test in May of the same year.
In its New Year's message this year, the North vowed to funnel resources into
rebuilding its economy and raising the standard of living for its people.
Critics doubt the country can bounce back from years of economic mismanagement;
recently it has reportedly tried to reinforce its socialist planning and crack
down on illegal market activities.
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