South Korea Now Has The Most Powerful Passport In The World

South Korea is the second Asian country ever to have topped the Global Passport Index, making the South Korean passport the most powerful passport in the world right now.

South Korea’s visa-free score is now 162, meaning citizens have visa-free access to a whole heap of countries including America, Canada, Russia and many European and Middle Eastern countries.

South Korea moved to the top of the ranking thanks to Uzbekistan granting visa-free access to Koreans in January 2018, as well as recent adjustments to visa policies in Somalia.

The only other Asian country to top the Global Passport Index ranking is Singapore, which reached the top in 2017 and is currently tied with South Korea in first place.

Japan has also moved up in the ranks to second place with a visa-free score of 161. Although tied with Germany, which has historically dominated the charts, Japan has fewer visa-free waivers than Germany which means it is ranked fourth in the individual ranks.

The Passport Index combines visa-free and visa on arrival conditions to calculate the country’s visa-free score.

2017 was the first year an Asian country reached the top of the list ever, showing a changing attitude to Asian countries around the world.

“This is a testament to the increased global respect and trust Asian countries are commanding.” — Armand Arton, founder of Global Passport Index company Arton Capital

It seems that South Korea is taking its official slogan for the Pyeongchang Olympics, “Passion. Connected”, seriously by connecting its citizens to the world and connecting the world to its beautiful and unique country!