This final installment of my South Korea sojourn should rightly end with reflections. Why? I cannot help but wonder how our own situation has turned out to be quite different from that of Korea. I am referring, of course, to the significant disparity in our respective economic development.

Our GDP per capita is at a distant $3,623 compared to Korea's $33,643. We have been languishing since 1976 to be elevated to a lower middle-income country, while South Korea (SoKor) was already counted among the developed countries of the OECD as early as 1996.

Our infrastructure is nowhere near South Korea's. Seoul has 1,262 kilometers of subways that operate like clockwork, while, if we are to believe our government's pronouncements, we are still six years away from our 33-kilometer subway from Parañaque to Valenzuela. They have a rail network covering 4,285 kilometers while our operational rail system is down to a measly 129.85 kilometers as we retrogressed from a high of 533 kilometers.

Our internet mobile speed is 35 megabits per second, while SoKor's is 202.61. For broadband, our download speed is 71.85 compared to their 212.57.

So why such a big disparity? After all, we share a lot of similarities. Both our countries are situated in Asia. Both our countries had colonial overlords. Spain, US and Japan for us, while the Mongols, Manchuria, China and Japan took turns invading and occupying Korea. Both our countries experienced the ravages of war. Manila was devastated during the last days of Japanese rule, while Korea was laid to waste when North Korea's Kim Il Sung invaded the South. Both our countries are traditionally spiritual. We are the bastion of Christianity in Asia, while Koreans mainly practice Shamanism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity.

Insofar as family is concerned, both Filipinos and Koreans would sacrifice anything for the family's sake. We have millions of OFWs toiling abroad to provide the means for their children's education, while Koreans endure long hours of work to provide for their children's future. Korean parents are known to spend lavishly on tutoring, particularly for English lessons, to enable their children to be accepted in SoKor's schools or, failing that, to be admitted to universities abroad.

If we have so many similarities as a people and as a country, what could possibly account for our different fates? I certainly would not claim to be a sociologist, but I have some guesses.