Four out of every 10 South Koreans think their country’s influence in the world stage grew stronger in recent years, a survey showed.

In an annual survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, 40 percent of those surveyed answered South Korea’s global influence was getting stronger.

The reading marks the third highest among 19 countries surveyed after Israel and Singapore.

The research said people satisfied with the current state of their democracy are more likely to say their country’s global influence is getting stronger while those who are not satisfied are more likely to say the opposite. (Yonhap)