Two universities in South Korea have been listed on a global top 100 league based on academic reputation.

Seoul National University was placed in the 51st to 60th group, the same spot as last year, while Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, which was listed in the 91st to 100th band last year, moved up to the next highest group ― 81st to 90th ― according to the World Reputation rankings released by the Times Higher Education Supplement on Thursday.

“It has been a year of stability and steady progress for South Korea, with Seoul National University holding onto its position just outside the world top 50 in the 51-60 band, and KAIST rising up from the 91-100 group to the 81-90 group,” said Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education Rankings, which annually releases rankings based on academic opinion.

“The power balance does appear to be slowly shifting from West to East when it comes to global academic prestige, and South Korea’s investment in its World Class University Project will help keep it firmly in the picture,” Baty added.

The WCUP is run by the Korean government to raise higher educational competitiveness by inviting world renowned scholars to local universities.

Japan has five schools listed in the table, outnumbering other Asian countries on the list such as China, Singapore and South Korea ― each with two ― and Taiwan, with one.

Tokyo University is placed at 8th and Kyoto University at 20th.

China has two schools in the top 100 ― Tsinghua University at 30th and Peking University at 38th.

Two U.S. universities ― Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ― took the first and second spots, followed by the University of Cambridge in England.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)