Monocle magazine has ranked South Korea second after Germany in terms of soft power. 

The British monthly released its annual ranking in an article titled “Soft Power Super Stars” printed in its December 2020/January 2021 edition released on Friday.  

The magazine said that this year, it was not able to use its traditional evaluation method due to COVID-19. As a result, the magazine picked the top ten countries that drew attention in terms of overcoming various challenges. 

The report said South Korea set the standard for other countries in terms of entertainment and innovation. It also cited that South Korea’s aggressive testing and contact tracing for COVID-19 were lauded by countries around the world.  

The report said entertainment content served as the basis of South Korea’s soft power, with South Korean films, TV dramas and music being exported across the world. However, the magazine also noted that South Korea still faces challenges in terms of North Korea policies and freedom of press. 

France came in third on the soft power list followed by Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland, New Zealand, Sweden, Greece and Canada.