SEOUL, December 11 (AJP) - South Korea's top 10 companies by market capitalization have experienced a significant decline in value, losing 12.7 percent to 735.4 trillion won ($564 billion) since 2020. This stands in stark contrast to their counterparts in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan, which have seen gains ranging from 53 to 107 percent during the same period, according to CEO Score research institute.
The performance of South Korean companies has been particularly disappointing in terms of operating profits. These declined by 20.3 percent to 35.3 trillion won ($27.1 billion), while the other three countries reported increases of 116 to 123 percent. Notably, Taiwan's top 10 firms, which had a smaller market value than Korea's in 2020, now surpass Korea's by a factor of 2.1 when converted to won.
Samsung Electronics, the market leader, has been a major contributor to this decline. Its market capitalization has dropped 33.1 percent to 323.6 trillion won ($248.5 billion) from 483.6 trillion won in 2020. Operating profit has also fallen significantly, declining 76.4 percent to 6.57 trillion won ($5 billion) from 27.77 trillion won.
In contrast, global tech giants have thrived. Apple's market value surged 59 percent to $3.59 trillion, with operating profit increasing 85.9 percent to $123.2 billion. Japan's Toyota saw a 55.2 percent increase to 40.3 trillion yen ($276 billion), while Taiwan's TSMC soared 87.9 percent to 25.8 trillion Taiwan dollars ($820 billion).
"Korean companies are trapped in a more serious low-growth trap than the chronic undervaluation problem in the Korean stock market," warned Jo Won-man, CEO of CEO Score.
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