South Korea top Asian country in global innovation rankings

South Korea has clinched the top spot in Asia in a United Nations agency’s global innovation rankings, coming in fifth globally. Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, was in 10th place last year. In the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index 2021, Korea was ahead of Singapore, Japan and China. It was behind Switzerland, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom.

On South Korea's spectacular rise, the IP organisation said the country "went up notably in innovation results and, in particular, in indicators for trademarks (being filed), global brand value, and cultural and creative services exports".

The organisation added that South Korea enjoyed substantial improvements in an area it is known for with its companies like Samsung - knowledge and technology outputs.

The country has expanded research and development investment in bioscience to help with vaccines and medicine, as well as in information technology to cope with digital transformation.

Efforts like these helped to propel a rapid recovery of South Korea’s economic indicators to pre-pandemic levels.

Links:

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20211011000263
https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/tech-news/south-korea-beats-singapore-to-clinch-top-innovation-spot-in-asia-with-k-pop-power