Dennis had presented us with data on South Korea while we were arguing over the definitions of developed countries. While he presented us with data of SK having GNP per capita, I made lower estimates for SK. It seems both of us are right, because SK GNP was close to Greece and Portugal by 1997, but it fell due to devaluation of currency in 1997-8. 1999 estimates are closer to my estimatives (SK: 8500 and Greece 11770), while Dennis is right about pre 1997 estimates. While we consider PPP values in the CIA Factbook, however, SK (13300) is better than Greece (8500). Here is a very interesting paper on the nature of borderline development, which targets some questions we are talking about.
http://www.stanford.edu/class/econ121/Materials/Lecture1.PDF