SK Invests 247 Trillion Won, LG 106 Trillion Won... A Matter of Life and Death for Future Growth

SK Focuses Investment Funds on BBC Industry
Unlocks 179 Trillion KRW Domestically... 50,000 Jobs Created
LG Emphasizes Research and Development, Hiring 50,000

Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is presenting about the ERT (Entrepreneurship Round Table) at the New Entrepreneurship Declaration Ceremony held on the 24th at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Hyung-gil and Park Sun-mi] SK Group will invest 247 trillion KRW by 2026 in semiconductor, battery, and bio sectors. It plans to allocate 179 trillion KRW domestically and hire 50,000 new employees. LG Group will also invest 106 trillion KRW focusing on future growth sectors and hire 10,000 people annually over five years.

Adding the investment plans previously announced by Samsung (450 trillion KRW), Hyundai Motor (63 trillion KRW), and Lotte (37 trillion KRW), the total investment by the top five groups reaches 903 trillion KRW. This far exceeds this year’s national budget of 607 trillion KRW. This indicates that major conglomerates are putting their lives on the line to invest in nurturing future growth industries ahead of others.

According to the business community on the 26th, SK Group announced an investment plan focusing on the so-called BBC industries: semiconductor (Chip), battery (Battery), and bio (Bio) as core growth engines. Judging that semiconductors are the core of the 4th Industrial Revolution, including AI and digital transformation, SK allocated more than half of the total investment, 142 trillion KRW, to semiconductors and semiconductor materials.

Additionally, to achieve the group’s goal of reducing 200 million tons of carbon by 2030, which is 1% of the global carbon reduction target (21 billion tons), SK will invest 67 trillion KRW in eco-friendly future industries such as electric vehicle batteries and materials, hydrogen, wind power, and renewable energy. It will also invest 25 trillion KRW in digital sectors and 12 trillion KRW in bio sectors.

An SK Group official said, "We focused on strengthening core growth engines by concentrating 90% of the total investment on BBC. Ultimately, the agents of growth are talent, so we will actively create jobs and plan to hire 50,000 people."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, LG Group also announced plans to invest 106 trillion KRW domestically over the next five years, focusing on future growth sectors. In particular, it will invest 48 trillion KRW in research and development (R&D).

By sector, LG plans to spend 43 trillion KRW on future growth fields. Nearly half of that, 21 trillion KRW, will be concentrated on R&D in battery and battery materials, automotive electronics, next-generation displays, AI and data, bio, and eco-friendly cleantech sectors.

LG also plans to directly hire about 10,000 people annually until 2026. Over three years, focusing on new advanced businesses, it will hire more than 3,000 people?over 10% of total hires?in R&D fields such as AI, software, big data, eco-friendly materials, and batteries.

Meanwhile, including SK and LG, which announced investment plans on this day, and previously announced plans by Hanwha (37.6 trillion KRW) and Doosan (5 trillion KRW), the total investment amount by major conglomerates over the next 3 to 5 years reaches 945.6 trillion KRW.

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