April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Among Korea’s top 10 conglomerates, LG Group spent the most in miscellaneous accounts, which mainly appears to have been used for entertainment and promotional purposes, according to research from Herald Business and The Investor.

From 2012 to 2015, LG reported no official entertainment expenses, but the firm spent 11.8 trillion won (US$10.7 billion) on miscellaneous purposes. 

LG Group headquarters in Seoul.

Next was Samsung, which spent about 9.4 trillion won in its miscellaneous account. Major affiliates like Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display all reported zero for entertainment expenses.

SK spent 5.3 trillion won, while Hyundai Motor Group used nearly 2 trillion won. Hyundai Motor affiliates such as Hyundai Construction & Engineering and Hyundai Motor also reported no entertainment expenses.

Hanjin Group spent 634.7 billion won in their miscellaneous account, while Lotte Group spent 384.7 billion won. Lotte affiliates racked up official entertainment expenses as well, amounting to 85.5 billion won during the cited four years.

In total, 456 affiliates of the country’s top 10 conglomerates reported spending 413.4 billion won in official entertainment expenses. Among them, SK subsidiaries spent 70.3 billion won, while Hanwha Group subsidiaries spent 53.1 billion won.

By Yoon Hyon-jong (factism@heraldcorp.com)/Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)