Five Korean universities ranked among top 200 around the world in global rankings released Tuesday.

In the rankings published by Quacquarelli Symonds, Seoul National University ranked 50th, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) 79th, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) 112th, Yonsei University 142nd, and Korea University 191st. Korea University is a new addition this year.

The rankings, which are regarded as the most authoritative in the world, included a mere two Korean universities until 2007, SNU and KAIST, but since then their number has been growing. Thirteen made the top 500 this year.

Ben Sowter of the U.K. ranking firm's Intelligence Unit said Korean universities' years of efforts to improve are gradually being recognized internationally.

Korean universities have carried out a substantial reform drive for the last four or five years, seeking to attract more international faculty and students and boosting research, and the competitiveness of top universities has increased noticeably.

Cambridge University was the top ranked school overall, followed by Harvard, Yale, University College London and MIT. In terms of the number of universities in the top 200, the U.S. ranked first with 53, followed by the U.K. (30), Germany (12), the Netherlands (12) and Canada (10).

Japan topped the list in Asia with 10 universities. China also outdistanced Korea with six, or 11 if five in Hong Kong are included.

This year's World University Rankings were released simultaneously by newspapers each in the U.S., the U.K., France and Germany, as well as the Chosun Ilbo in Korea.