South Korea has placed fourth in the World Bank's annual ranking of countries in terms of their ease of doing business.
 
According to the World Bank's "Doing Business 2016" report, released Tuesday, South Korea placed fourth among 189 economies and selected cities.
 
It is up a notch from last year and the highest ranking ever for South Korea.
 
The nation placed first in getting electricity, second in enforcing contracts and fourth in resolving insolvency.
 
It placed eighth for protecting minority investors, up from 21st last year, and 40th in registering property, which was at 79th place last year.
 
However, South Korea's ranking fell in five categories, including starting a business and getting credit.
 
The project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-sized companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle.
 
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said the results are meaningful as it shows that the regulatory environment for starting and operating businesses in South Korea has reached the global level.