How have the assets and profits of South Korea's top 4 business groups changed?

Seoul, May 20 (NationPress) The four largest business conglomerates in South Korea—Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, and LG—have experienced remarkable increases in both assets and net profits over the last three years, according to a recent report from a market tracker released on Tuesday.

As of 2024, the total assets of these leading four groups reached 1,444.8 trillion won (approximately US$1,039 billion), a significant rise from 1,360 trillion won in 2023 and 1,255.7 trillion won in 2022, as detailed by the Leaders Index.

Their asset values have consistently climbed since surpassing the 1,000 trillion-won threshold in 2019, as reported by the Yonhap news agency.

In 2024, these four conglomerates' combined assets made up 53.1 percent of the total assets owned by South Korea's 30 largest business groups.

During the period from 2022 to 2024, their net profit surged by 30.8 percent, while the net profit of the top 30 conglomerates only saw a slight increase of 0.8 percent.

However, the Leaders Index highlighted that despite the growth in assets and profits, there has been minimal impact on employment levels.

The workforce within these four major groups remained relatively stable, with employee numbers rising marginally from 745,000 in 2022 to 746,000 in 2024.

Contrastingly, the total workforce of the top 30 conglomerates grew by 8.8 percent during the same timeframe, increasing from 1.4 million to 1.52 million.

In other news, the value of South Korea's virtual asset market nearly doubled in the latter half of last year, driven by rising cryptocurrency prices, as revealed by data on Tuesday.

As of the end of 2024, the market capitalization of the virtual asset sector reached 107.7 trillion won (equivalent to $77.6 billion), representing a 91 percent increase from six months prior, according to findings from the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

The total value of deposits made by traders in Korean won surged by 114 percent, amounting to 10.7 trillion won, while the operating profit of market operators increased by 28 percent to 742 billion won during the same period.

At the end of 2024, there were 25 virtual asset market operators in South Korea, including 17 cryptocurrency exchanges, as reported by the financial regulator.

In the six months concluding December 31, the average daily value of cryptocurrency transactions reached 7.3 trillion won, marking a 22 percent rise from the daily average of 6 trillion won in the first half of 2024, according to the FSC.