By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
Korea's top 30 conglomerates will invest a record 87.1 trillion won (about $77.5 billion) this year, up 16.3 percent from last year, as they look to exploit improving business conditions here and abroad.
In a meeting with President Lee Myung-bak Friday, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the country's biggest business lobby, also said that the group of industrial heavyweights will hire a total of 79,199 workers this year, up 8.7 percent from last year.
"The record amount of investment promised shows that the top business groups are taking an aggressive stance to take advantage of new opportunities as the global economy shows signs of recovery," an FKI spokesman said.
Samsung Group, the Korean industry kingpin, is looking to spend about 26.5 trillion won, its second-highest annual amount ever, and hire about 19,000 workers. The group's key affiliate, Samsung Electronics, will spend 18.4 trillion won to improve competitiveness in its major markets, including the memory chip and flat-screen display markets. The company is the world's largest producer of memory chips and liquid crystal displays (LCDs), while it also leads the global market in flat-screen televisions and is second to Nokia in mobile phones.
About 7 trillion won of Samsung Electronics' investment will go into its chip business, while 3 trillion won will be poured into its LCD division, according to industry sources.
"The group's plan, however, may change according to market conditions. We will maintain greater flexibility with our investments this year," Lee Soo-bin, chairman of Samsung Life Insurance, told reporters.
LG Group is also increasing its annual investment by 28 percent to 15 trillion won this year, while it plans to hire about 10,000 new workers, according to LG Chairman Koo Bon-moo.
LG counts technology heavyweights LG Electronics, LG Chem and LG Innotek among its key units.
Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, the country's top carmaking conglomerate, will invest 10.5 trillion won this year, up 12 percent from last year, in response to rising demand for such emerging products as hybrid and electric cars.
The auto giant plans to hire 6,000 new workers.
SK Group will increase its investment by about 10 percent to 7 trillion won, while STX Group looks to invest 1.2 trillion won, up 10 percent from last year, and hire 2,000 new workers. Dongbu Group, looking to boost its steel production capability, plans to spend 1 trillion won this year.