A recent global survey shows that South Korean students excel in mathematics and science but their confidence and interest in the subjects lag behind their counterparts in many other countries. 

The South Korean Education Ministry on Tuesday shared the results of 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) by the U.S.-based National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). 

The quadrennial research, which compared performances of around 330-thousand fourth graders in 58 countries and around 250-thousand second-grade middle schoolers in 39 countries, said that the younger South Korean subjects ranked third in mathematics and second in science on average. 

Specifically, fourth-graders of South Korea received 600 points in math, compared to a global average of 500. Only their counterparts in Singapore and Hong Kong were ahead with 625 points and 602 points, respectively. 

In science, they received 588 points, trailing only those in Singapore, who received 595 points. 

In terms of confidence and interest, however, the South Korean students lagged at 64 percent in math as opposed to the global average of 76 percent, and 76 percent in science as opposed to the global average of 81 percent. 

As for second-grade middle school students, they placed third in math and fourth in science, but just as their younger compatriots, they displayed significantly lower confidence and interest in those subjects than global averages.