Korea has been ranked the 29th most globalized country in the world, up four spots from last year, a study by consulting firm Ernst & Young said Wednesday.

The latest ranking places Korea ahead of China (39th) and Japan (40th). Korea is now the fourth most globalized nation in Asia, after top-ranking Hong Kong, third-place Singapore and 12th-ranked Taiwan.

“The process of globalization paused a little with the 2008 financial recession, but it is accelerating again with the sharing of technological innovation and emergence of developing economies,” Ernst & Young said in a statement.

The globalized index by Ernst & Young measures the performance of the 60 biggest economies across 20 indicators including foreign trade, capital movement, exchange of technology ideas, labor movement and cultural integration.

The consulting firm says that globalization will continue to advance until 2015, most notably for emerging markets such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Mexico and Colombia.

It projects the world economy will grow 3.4 percent and Europe will post flat growth this year. It expects the combined GDP of emerging markets to grow 5.3 percent this year, outpacing the developed world. Ernst & Young forecasts the GDP of emerging markets could overtake that of the developed economies as early as 2014,

The index is to be officially announced at the World Economic Forum that runs until the 29th this week.

By Cynthia J. Kim (cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)