"Indeed, South Korea is the only country that successfully made its transition from a former colony to an advanced economy."
This is not right. Each of the following meet the same criteria, including the author's caveats - Taiwan (also Japan), Greece (Ottoman), Finland (Swedes), Ireland (British), numerous Central European nations (Soviet Union). Some others that are debatable - Cyprus, Malta, Israel, Singapore, Chile. At the time of their handovers, Hong Kong and Macau would each have met the definition.
> One could say that Australia or Canada, along with the United States, used to be a colony. Nonetheless, what is distinct about South Korea is the fact that it was colonized by former imperial Japan by coercion
They say this and then move on. The distinct thing is that it was Imperial Japan rather than Imperial England? I’m not saying those empires were similar, but it seems to me that they made the distinction just so they could ignore the aforementioned countries.
This is not right. Each of the following meet the same criteria, including the author's caveats - Taiwan (also Japan), Greece (Ottoman), Finland (Swedes), Ireland (British), numerous Central European nations (Soviet Union). Some others that are debatable - Cyprus, Malta, Israel, Singapore, Chile. At the time of their handovers, Hong Kong and Macau would each have met the definition.