South Korea is looking like a ripe opportunity to investors, as the country is growing out of the global downturn quite strongly. Exchange traded funds (ETFs) offer a good way to get exposure to this Asian nation.

Year-to-date, iShares MSCI South Korea (NYSEArca: EWY) has been one of the strongest ETFs targeting the Asian region. What gives? Points in the country’s favor include:

• South Korea is the fourth largest economy in Asia and relies heavily upon exports to keep the economy strong.
• South Korea also has strong economic ties to China–exports to China account for about 15% of South Korea’s GDP. Economic development in China will be an important driver of growth for many of South Korea’s larger companies, says Patricia Oey for Morningstar.

South Korea is a developed nation, according to the FTSE Group. EWY also does not have a strong correlation with other major U.S. indexes, and therefore can serve as a good diversification tool, especially for investors with insufficient exposure to international markets.

For more stories about South Korea, visit our South Korea category.

Information technology and industrials dominate the EWY large-cap tilted ETF, EWY. There are several ways to get South Korean exposure:

• iShares MSCI South Korea (NYSEArca: EWY): up 66.9% year-to-date

• iShares S&P  Asia 50 Index (NYSEArca: AIA): up 53.3% year-to-date; South Korea is 22.4%

• iShares MSCI Asia ex-Japan Index (NYSEArca: AAXJ): up 59.5% year-to-date; South Korea is 16.6%

Tags: AAXJ, AIA, Asia, EWY, Global ETFs, South Korea