Why Do Some Languages Use More Characters Than Others?
Counting symbols can be misleading. English letters, Korean syllable blocks and Chinese characters do not represent language in exactly the same way.
The useful part
English uses an alphabet. Hangul also uses letters, arranged into syllable blocks. Chinese characters commonly represent syllables and meaningful units; components may provide clues to meaning or pronunciation. More characters does not make a language more advanced.
Try this
Compare the writing units before comparing their totals. A Korean block is built from letters, while a Chinese character is not simply a picture of the thing it names.