Which ladder? (There are more than one). In certain fields, Korea may well enjoy an advantage over other nations; In other fields this may possibly not be the case. Surely national quality of life i.e. a cocktail of criteria is a subjective assessment and therefore difficult sensibly to compare.
If the price of progress towards the state of Nirvana-like perfection that is Korea is that people like Ms Cho can bully the small people with impunity, then that may not be a price that everybody is willing to pay.
Just sayin'