In an investor relations meeting in London last month, South Korea’s Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok declared his country has reached the level even with other advanced nations. Making a presentation titled “From emerging to advanced,” he highlighted South Korea’s economic achievement over the past decades.

Few would dispute the miraculous accomplishments it has achieved from the ashes of the Korean War, which started 63 years ago today. South Korea has become the seventh country with a population of more than 50 million whose per capita income exceeds $20,000. Its trade volume has also surpassed $1 trillion, a record previously obtained by only eight countries.

But the outcome of an international survey released in May suggested the country still remained far from what it should eventually achieve ― respect in the global community. South Korea ranked 10th in the list of 17 nations targeted by this year’s annual Country Ratings Poll for the BBC World Service. In the survey of about 26,000 people in 25 countries, 36 percent rated South Korea’s influence in the world as “mainly positive,” while 31 percent evaluated it as “mainly negative.”

South Korea is in no position to be complacent with the result, considering Japan placed fourth with a 51 percent positive rating against 27 percent negative views. Japan might have retained the top spot if it were not for the negative ratings from South Korean and Chinese respondents.

South Koreans should reflect on why Japan, which they have duly blamed for turning a blind eye to its pre-1945 war atrocities, is favored far more than their country in the international community. They should think about whether Japan’s right-wing politicians would or could continue anachronistic acts that anger them, if South Korea commands respect from people around the world.

In addition to becoming stronger in economic and military terms, which would have inevitable limits, South Koreans need to enhance their image in the global village as benevolent, courteous, honest, rational, sincere and trustworthy. They should keep in mind what should ultimately be built on the legacy of the war.