South Korea Tension Score
building record · 49 days on fileLive 0–100 tension reading for South Korea, built by our own engine from 19,188 world headlines in the last 30 days. Refreshed every 10 minutes; a fresh headline count twice a day.
Where South Korea stands
#55 of 197 countries today, #6 of 44 in Asia-Pacific (region score 45). Tension is easing this week.
Same 0–100 scale and zones as the World Tension Index.
South Korea news pulse
60 headlines in 30 days · newest firstEvery story the engine read that names South Korea, its capital or its leaders. Links go to the original outlet; the badge is the engine’s own 0–100 tension weight. This list is what moves the number above.
What is driving South Korea’s tension score
last 30 days- 130 headlines in 30 days — 0.68% of everything the engine read, in line with the previous 30 days (158).
- 34% of those were violent (attacks, strikes, casualties) and 50% scored as high-tension stories.
- Conflicts on the roster: none. South Korea is not a party to any conflict our engine tracks right now.
- Region: Asia-Pacific reads 45 today; it carries 15% of this score.
Read it like this. Attention (how much the world is talking about South Korea) is the biggest input at 30%. Violence and high-tension share tell you what kind of talk it is. A country can be loud and calm — an election, a summit — or quiet and dangerous. The mix is the point.
South Korea tension month by month
average score, headline counts| Month | Avg score | Zone | Headlines | Violent | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | 27.2 | Calm | 15 | 3 | 5 |
| October 2026 | 33.4 | Calm | 178 | 63 | 31 |
| September 2026 | 31.9 | Calm | 95 | 40 | 13 |
Record for South Korea began on 18 September 2026. Nothing is revised after the fact.
How the South Korea score is built
Five inputs, fixed weights. Attention 30% (share of world coverage), violence 25% and high-tension share 15% (what kind of coverage), roster conflicts 15%, and the Asia-Pacific region score 15%. A momentum nudge (+6 / −4) rewards a country whose coverage is accelerating or fading.
Same physics as the world score. The number rises 85% of the way to its new level at once and falls no faster than 3 points a day — fear arrives fast and leaves slowly.
No third-party index inside. Every count comes from the 41 public news feeds our engine reads itself; the full method is on the methodology page. Data is free under CC BY 4.0 via the API.
Questions people ask about South Korea
Is South Korea in a war right now?
Not on our roster. South Korea is not a party to any tracked conflict; the engine flags new candidates automatically when coverage repeats.
Is tension in South Korea rising or falling?
Easing: down 8 points in 7 days.
How does South Korea compare with the rest of Asia-Pacific?
Below its region: South Korea reads 26 against 45 for Asia-Pacific, ranking #6 of 44 there.
Keep exploring
Same region
Pakistan 36 · North Korea 33 · India 33 · Afghanistan 31 · China 29 · Australia 26
The bigger picture
All countries on the map · Asia-Pacific · World Tension Index · active conflicts · escalation watchlist
South Korea and world tension: the long view
evergreen · World Tension Meter teamFront line with the North, factory for the world. South Korea lives under North Korean artillery range and makes the memory chips, ships and cars the world buys. Its political crises and the North’s tests both spike its score.
What our engine watches in South Korea
- North Korean launches and border incidents
- Domestic political turmoil
- Chip and shipbuilding trade
Indexes to follow: Supply Chain Risk · Market Fear.