North Korea ranks No. 17 of 26 for relative power in Asia-Pacific

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The Australian think tank Lowy Institute in this year’s power index released on Monday. North Korea was ranked 17th out of 26 countries in terms of national power in the Asia-Pacific region, dropping by one place largely due to its waning diplomatic influence.

Pyongyang scored low in cultural influence and economic relationships. The regime performed best in military capability, placing sixth, though the communist country seems to wield less influence than expected, given the nuclear arsenal available, according to the index.

The index assessed that the US came on top, followed by China and Japan, with South Korea earning the seventh spot. South Korea ranked sixth last year, but its diplomatic and cultural influence diminished over the year.

The index added that China has narrowed the gap with the US, which has seen a reduction in performance evaluations because of its mishandling of the covid-.19. But the dollar is still the unrivaled currency, empowering the US to maintain an edge over the other Asia-Pacific countries.

Vietnam’s level of influence in the Asia-Pacific region has moved up a notch in an annual power ranking, its reputation strengthened by the competent handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The country was the 12th most influential in the Asia-Pacific region, ahead of New Zealand (13th), the Philippines (16th) and Myanmar (20th). The ranking measured 26 countries and territories in the Asia Pacific region and scored them on distribution of power, based on eight main categories, including defense networks, cultural influence, diplomatic influence, economic resources, economic relationships, military capability, resilience and future trends. Vietnam, classed in the middle powers group, scored an overall 19.2 points out of 100 up 1.2 from last year, and performs best in thanks to big improvements in diplomacy.

Vietnam performs best in the diplomatic influence sphere, where it placed 9th up three spots from last year thanks to successful containment of the Covid-19 crisis.