South Korea has the eighth highest level of economic freedom in Asia, according to a report by a U.S. think tank. The Washington-based Heritage Foundation rated the economic and political freedoms of some 40 Asian nations, including the U.S. because of its strong presence and influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

South Korea's economy was rated 68.1 percent free, trailing Hong Kong (90 percent), Singapore (87.1 percent), Australia (82.6 percent), New Zealand (82 percent), the U.S. (80.7 percent), Japan (72.8 percent), and Taiwan (69.5 percent).

North Korea was rated the most repressed economy with a rating of 2 percent. South Korea also ranked eighth in the best places to do business category.

South Korea shared the ninth spot with Japan in the political freedom category, whereas North Korea ranked last along with Burma. North Korea was also rated the most militarized country in Asia with 4.71 percent of its population serving in military. South Korea came in fourth with 1.41 percent.

In votes on 88 key resolutions of the 2008 UN General Assembly, South Korea agreed with the U.S. on 25 issues and disagreed on 38. Australia agreed with the U.S. on 41 resolutions while Japan did on 28. North Korea's votes matched those of the U.S. on only six resolutions.

"The U.S. is no less a Pacific nation than an Atlantic one," said Walter Lohman, one of the report's three writers and director of foundation's Asian Studies Center. "The state of Hawaii and the territories of Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa all lie in the Pacific. The U.S. has five treaty alliances in East Asia." U.S.-Asia relations will grow closer in the future, he added.