Among the countries surveyed, South Korea stands out as the most heavily connected society, with 96 percent of adults reporting that they use the internet.

The Pew Research Center's newest study says that while the gap in internet usage between emerging and advanced economies is narrowing, there are still large swaths of the world where significant numbers of citizens do not use the internet.

South Korea is in the same league as the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, the US, Israel, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain -- where roughly 9 in 10 report internet use.

Among other Asian countries studied for internet penetration and usage across various categories such as age and gender China is relatively high at 71 percent. Japan's usage is at 76 percent, Vietnam 64 percent, Philippines 56 percent, and India 25 percent.