April 27, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Group cut down on corporate donations for the second straight year in 2017, indicating Korea’s largest conglomerate wanted to either clean up its image or use it as a chance to cut back on expenses, according to a corporate tracker on April 2.

Last year, Samsung affiliates donated a total of 306.4 billion won (US$287 million), down 35.5 percent from a year ago, Chaebul.com noted. It was a sharp contrast from 2015 when Samsung’s donations had peaked at 532.4 billion won when it contributed about 20 billion won to culture and sports foundations linked to ousted former President Park Geun-hye’s confidante Choi Soon-sil. 

At the time, it wasn’t just Samsung. Many Korean conglomerates donated heavily in return for business favors, although they claim the donations were for charity only.

In the aftermath, Hyundai Motor Group cut donations by 8.1 percent, and Hyundai Heavy Industries by 29.7 percent. Others, however, such as SK Group donated 204 billion won -- its highest amount so far -- while LG Group raised its volume by 7.1 percent and Lotte Group by 14 percent.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)