By Hong Angie
Video = WIPO's official YouTube channel
The country ranks sixth in the Global Innovation Index of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on Sept. 26 said Korea finished in the top 10 for the fifth straight year among 133 countries in this year's survey.
KIPO said this was thanks to global recognition of the country's high innovation capacity.
Korea rose four notches from its ranking last year to surpass China (11th), France (12) and Japan (13th). Switzerland topped the list for the 15th straight year, followed by Sweden, the U.S., Singapore and U.K. in that order.
Since 2007, WIPO has released the index in cooperation with the European School of Management and Business and Cornell University of the U.S. to assess each country's innovation capacity, which is deemed a major driving force for economic development. The survey uses 78 detailed indicators in seven categories including five on input such as human capital and research and two on output like knowledge and technology.
Among the 78, Korea topped five including three in intellectual property such as the number of patent applications compared to gross domestic product. It was first in human capital and research for the sixth consecutive year as well as sixth in input and fourth in output.
"Our country's innovation capacity is highly rated mainly because both the government and private sector have heavily invested in talent development and research and development, which have led to active creation and protection of intellectual property," said Jeong In-sik, director general of WIPO's Intellectual Property Protection & International Cooperation Bureau.
"We will strive to lead the formation of an environment where intellectual property, the fruit of innovation, is effectively used and protected."
shong9412@korea.kr