I've also been thinking about this. From what I can tell, a big part of it is the most of South Korea's cases so far were skewed young and female (both demograp

I've also been thinking about this. From what I can tell, a big part of it is the most of South Korea's cases so far were skewed young and female (both demographics less likely to die). Stats for ages in SK cases here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic_data/South_Korea_medical_cases https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:2019%E2%80%9320_coron... Additionally, it seems SK has picked up cases much earlier in their progression than Italy (and most other countries except perhaps Singapore). This means we'll likely see more deaths as those cases resolve (and deaths/cases in SK has been increasing, was 0.6% a week ago, now 0.9%). Another factor is it seems SK picked up a majority of their cases, mild and serious, due to extensive testing, while Italy has likely not detected many mild cases. Finally, death rates are much higher in places where health systems are overwhelmed, such as northern Italy.