Good point! Perhaps there are factors that allowed those countries to act more like islands than continental nations. Since South Korea's only border is the DM

Good point! Perhaps there are factors that allowed those countries to act more like islands than continental nations. Since South Korea's only border is the DMZ I could see them effectively operating like an island. Both Vietnam and Uruguay or to at least some degree peninsulas so perhaps that helped. An (admittedly cursory) look at Vietnam suggests that their major cities are on the coast. Perhaps the jungle separating them from other nations was enough to make them act more like an island? Perhaps we could revise the parent's statement to replace "continental country" with "country with diffuse trade and transportation routes".