Anchor: South Korea's ranking on the World Economic Forum's annual Global Competitiveness Report has remained at 26th for the third straight year. Despite the stable position, South Korea garnered a higher global competitive score of five-point-zero-three, compared to last year's four-point-99, indicating improvements in some pillars.
Mina Cha has more.

Report: South Korea has been ranked 26th in the national competitiveness survey carried out by the World Economic Forum(WEF), unchanged from last year and the year before.

According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Tuesday, South Korea was placed 26th out of 138 countries in the latest survey by the Geneva-based institute.

South Korea’s ranking in the WEF national competitiveness index peaked in 2012 at 19th, but fell to 25th in 2013 and remained at 26th since 2014.

The top three economies—Switzerland, Singapore and the United States, respectively—maintained their positions from 2015.

Japan’s ranking fell by two notches to eighth while China remained at 28th.

The WEF measures national competitiveness in terms of basic requirements, efficiency enhancers and corporate innovation and numerates 114 sub-categories, or pillars.

In the 2016 index, South Korea showed improvements in 57 sub-categories and showed low progress in 42 others.

The country moved up two notches to third in the macroeconomic environment pillar and posted gains in infrastructure, entering the top two of the category for the first time.

It, however, ranked 113th for the ease of firing and hiring workers and 135th for the quality of social dialogue.
Mina Cha, KBS World Radio News.