If the Corporate Olympics were held, South Korea would rank 9th... Only one medal from Samsung Electronics

Need for Deregulation of Businesses and Revitalization of Investment

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] An analysis shows that if the "Corporate Olympics," featuring the world's top 500 companies, were held, South Korea would rank 9th among 31 participating countries, with Samsung Electronics being the only medalist.

On the 7th, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) analyzed the competitiveness of major countries and Korean companies based on the industry classification and sales of the global top 500 companies selected by the U.S. business magazine Fortune. The results showed that South Korea ranked 9th among 31 countries participating in 20 events, winning one silver medal in technology (Samsung Electronics).

The overall first place was taken by the United States, which won 8 gold, 8 silver, and 7 bronze medals. China followed in second place with 6 gold, 6 silver, and 5 bronze medals. The two countries’ total medal count (40) accounted for 70.2% of all medals, demonstrating the solid G2 (United States, China) system in the Corporate Olympics. The number of representative companies listed in the global top 500 Corporate Olympics was China (135), the United States (122), Japan (53), Germany (27), France (26), and the United Kingdom (22), in that order.

Comparing the total sales of representative companies by country, the United States ranked first with $9.6501 trillion. China was second with $8.9246 trillion, and Japan third with $2.9431 trillion. South Korea, with 15 participating companies, ranked 7th with $804.4 billion.

In the global top 500 Corporate Olympics, South Korea had 9 companies whose rankings rose compared to the previous year, 4 companies whose rankings fell, 2 companies re-entering, and 1 company excluded. This is analyzed as reflecting the expansion of the non-face-to-face economy due to COVID-19, responses to climate change (carbon neutrality), and asset market expansion. High-tech sectors (semiconductors), batteries, and financial companies saw ranking increases or re-entries, while steel, energy, and domestic demand-related companies sensitive to economic conditions faced difficulties.

Meanwhile, 27 companies participated for the first time in this Corporate Olympics, with the majority being from the United States (8) and China (16). South Korea has not discovered new representative companies since LG Chem’s first participation in 2019.

Yoo Hwan-ik, head of the FKI’s Industry Division, said, “Korean companies performed reasonably well in the Corporate Olympics, with overall sales growth.” However, he pointed out, “It is regrettable that due to high-level regulations, representative players in new industries have not been discovered.” He added, “It is necessary to ease corporate regulations, such as relaxing regulations related to CVC (corporate venture capital) and introducing dual-class voting rights, to better connect an innovative startup ecosystem with investment funds from large corporations.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.