Quora Answer: How Did Singapore Become More Advanced Than South Korea Despite Having a Tougher Start?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How did Singapore become far more advanced than South Korea, despite having a much tougher start?” 

There are two assumptions here: that Singapore is more advanced than South Korea, and that Singapore had a tougher start.  Both are disputable. 

Firstly, how did Singapore have the tougher start when South Korea had to rebuild from the ashes of the Japanese Occupation during World War II, and after barely recovering, they had to go through the horror of the Korean War, followed by the partition of the nation, of communities, and families, and the pogroms by successive military dictatorships?  Singapore did not have it easy, from Separation to the Communist insurgency to the Konfrontasi.  But we never had to go through a civil war of the scale and brutality of the Korean conflict.  We only had to rebuild from the Japanese Occupation. 

Secondly, how do we define advanced?  Both economies are structured differently, and took different routes.  Singapore is a trade and finance centre.  South Korea turned to precision engineering and advanced manufacturing.  There is no scope of comparison.  Both countries are advanced developed nations, some of the wealthiest in the world.  Both countries were among the fastest growing economies, reaching developed status in less than half a century.  There, the comparison ends.