FTC Announces List of Korea’s 64 Largest Chaebol Groups

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a new list of 64 large business groups subject to strict regulations.

The commission designates conglomerates with assets exceeding five trillion won as large business groups every May in order to regulate their mutual equity investments and inter-affiliate loan guarantees.

The 64 business groups have a total of 2,284 affiliates.

In this year’s list, the rankings of the top eight conglomerates have not changed, but from 9th to 50th place, only six groups retained their 2019 rankings.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Group climbed by one notch from 10th to ninth place, surpassing NH Nonghyup. The number of the group’s affiliates decreased by one, but the total amount of their assets increased by 7.9 trillion won.

CJ Group also saw its standing go up by one notch from 14th to 13th. The number of its affiliates increased from 75 to 77, and its total assets jumped by about 2.3 trillion won.

In addition, LS Group also climbed one step from 17th to 16th, and Kumho Asiana Group climbed by eight notches from 28th to 20th. However, Kumho Asiana is in the process of selling off its flagship Asiana Airlines. Therefore, if the sale of the airline is completed, Kumho Asiana’s ranking is expected to take a plunge.

On the other hand, in the case of NH Nonghyup, the number of its affiliates inflated by 14, but the total amount of assets grew by only 1.4 trillion won.

Hanjin Group, which suffered a dispute over management rights between two siblings of the late Chairman Cho Yang-ho, was dragged down from 13th to 14th place. The number of its affiliates fell by one, but the total amount of its assets increased by about 1.9 trillion won. S-Oil was pushed out of the top 20 as it fell from 20th to 21st place.

Meanwhile, Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG, Lotte, POSCO, Hanwha, and GS groups ranked first to eighth as in 2019. Samsung Group saw a drop in the number of affiliates but maintained its overwhelming number one position based on Samsung Electronics’ solid earnings.

Hyundai Motor Group increased its total assets by 11.2 trillion in the process of boosting its competitiveness in the eco-friendly and mobility sectors.

SK Group, which continued on a steep growth path in recent years based on a semiconductor boom, slowed down last year. LG and Lotte focused on qualitative growth and future growth engines by selection and concentration such as shutting down or selling off some of their affiliates in 2019.