South Korea has clinched the top spot in Asia in a United Nations agency’s global innovation rankings, coming in fifth globally.

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.

Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, was in 10th place last year. (Yonhap)

By Nam Kyung-don