Korea, ranked by data
Every ranking here can show its work: where the numbers come from, how the order is computed, and what the data cannot tell you. When we do not have the data, the ranking stays closed — we do not fill the gap with an editor's picks.
The Culture Shock Index
CollectingTwelve things that catch visitors to Korea off guard — rated by people who have been, on how unexpected and how good each one was.
Source: Visitor ratings on this site (convenience sample)
The Attractions Index
LiveWhere people actually go in Korea — ranked by reported visitor admissions, not by an editor's favourites.
Source: Visitor Statistics for Major Tourist Sites (Korea national statistics No. 113005)
The Kimchi-jjigae Index
LiveWhat a standard Korean meal costs, region by region — Big Mac Index logic, applied to kimchi-jjigae, bibimbap and six more staples.
Source: Korea Consumer Agency dining-out price survey (price.go.kr), monthly
The Visitors Index
LiveWho actually comes to Korea — foreign arrivals ranked by nationality, with year-on-year growth.
Source: Korea Tourism Statistics (national statistics No. 314004), monthly
The K-Food Export Index
LiveWho buys Korea's food — countries ranked by customs export value for ramyeon, kimchi and soju.
Source: Korea Customs Service trade statistics (tradedata.go.kr)
The Subway Index
LiveSeoul's busiest subway stations — ranked by daily gate traffic, not by anyone's impression of the crowd.
Source: Seoul Open Data Plaza card-gate ridership (OA-12914), monthly
The National Parks Index
LiveKorea's most-hiked mountains — all 23 national parks ranked by annual visits, from the park service's own statistics.
Source: KNPS Basic Statistics of National Parks (KOGL Type 1), annual
The Destinations Index
LiveWhere visitors spend their time in Korea — 17 regions ranked by mobile big-data estimates, foreign and Korean travellers separately.
Source: KTO Tourism Data Lab regional visitor estimates (data.go.kr), daily
The Weather Extremes Index
LiveKorea's hottest, wettest and coldest cities — heatwave days, tropical nights, rainfall and cold waves from official observations.
Source: KMA ASOS daily observations (data.go.kr), annual
The Ballpark Index
LiveWho fills Korea's baseball stadiums — KBO clubs ranked by average home attendance, from the league's own records.
Source: KBO official attendance records (koreabaseball.com), in-season
Why only 10? Because a ranking without data behind it is just a listicle, and the web has enough of those. How we decide what becomes an index