Korea ranks 26th on WEF global competitiveness index

한국, 세계경제포럼 국가경쟁력 평가서 3년째 26위 Korea's ranking in global competitiveness remained unchanged for a third year in a row. Looking at the World Economic Forum's index: the country's economic fundamentals are strong,... but there is still work to be done in other areas. For more on the WEF's take on where Korea stands in that category, here's Kim Min-ji Korea has placed 26th on the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness index,... keeping its spot in the survey of 138 countries for a third straight year. Switzerland topped the list,... followed by Singapore, the United States and the Netherlands. Neighboring Japan ranked eighth,... while China was 28th. The annual report, released on Tuesday,... says Korea has shown improvement in its macroeconomic environment, but this was offset by a decline in the nation's education and health sectors. In fact, the country's macroeconomic conditions' ranking rose to third place from fifth,... while it's footing in social infrastructure moved up three notches to 10th. Korea's ranking in corporate innovation and efficiency remained unchanged at 22nd place. But the country still lags behind advanced nations when it comes to labor efficiency and financial market maturity -- dragging down its competitiveness overall. With the ongoing disputes over the adoption of a perfomance-based wage system,... Korea's cooperation between labor and management ranks near the bottom at 135th place. The soundness of its banks also sits at a lowly 102nd. In the category of health and elementary education,... Korea saw its ranking fall six notches to 29th,... while in higher education and training, it dropped two steps to 25th. But some do question the reliability of the report. In a business environment survey by the World Bank,... Korea comes in fourth place. That's because the World Bank's rankings are based entirely on quantifiable data,... while the WEF's rely more on surveys -- meaning it's more difficult to make accurate comparisons between the countries surveyed. To boost its competitiveness, Korea has vowed to swiftly implement structural reforms and restructuring in the industrial sector,... in addition to encouraging innovation and economic efficiency. Kim Min-ji, Arirang News. Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS): http://www.facebook.com/newsarirang Homepage: http://www.arirang.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/arirangtv Twitter: http://twitter.com/arirangworld Instagram: http://instagram.com/arirangworld