The country's top 1,000 companies planned to invest a combined 72.5 trillion won ($52.12 billion) in 2023, up 8.7 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology.
According to the Yonhap news agency report, this was the largest amount ever.
This increase came despite their sales falling 2.8 percent year-on-year to 1,642 trillion won, and the ratio of corporate R&D investment to sales rising to 4.4 percent in 2023 from 3.9 percent last year.
Tech giant Samsung invested the largest amount in R&D last year with 23.9 trillion won, up 14.4 percent year-on-year and accounting for 32.9 percent of the total investment by South Korean companies.
Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor ranked second with 3.7 trillion won, representing a year-on-year increase of 15.6 percent. Chip giant SK Hynix's R&D spending fell 10 percent year-on-year to 3.6 trillion won.
Home appliance giant LG Electronics increased its R&D spending by 10 percent to 3.3 trillion won, and Samsung Display Co. spent 2.8 trillion won on R&D last year, up 12 percent year-on-year.
Kia Corp was the fifth-largest R&D investor last year with $2.2 trillion, the data showed.
Of the 1,000 companies, 171 were large conglomerates and 491 were second-tier medium-sized companies. The remaining 338 companies were medium and small sized companies.
"The number of medium-sized companies included in the top 1,000 leading R&D investing companies has increased over the years. The government will support companies to increase investment for innovation," a ministry official said.
According to the Yonhap news agency report, this was the largest amount ever.
This increase came despite their sales falling 2.8 percent year-on-year to 1,642 trillion won, and the ratio of corporate R&D investment to sales rising to 4.4 percent in 2023 from 3.9 percent last year.
Tech giant Samsung invested the largest amount in R&D last year with 23.9 trillion won, up 14.4 percent year-on-year and accounting for 32.9 percent of the total investment by South Korean companies.
Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor ranked second with 3.7 trillion won, representing a year-on-year increase of 15.6 percent. Chip giant SK Hynix's R&D spending fell 10 percent year-on-year to 3.6 trillion won.
Home appliance giant LG Electronics increased its R&D spending by 10 percent to 3.3 trillion won, and Samsung Display Co. spent 2.8 trillion won on R&D last year, up 12 percent year-on-year.
Kia Corp was the fifth-largest R&D investor last year with $2.2 trillion, the data showed.
Of the 1,000 companies, 171 were large conglomerates and 491 were second-tier medium-sized companies. The remaining 338 companies were medium and small sized companies.
"The number of medium-sized companies included in the top 1,000 leading R&D investing companies has increased over the years. The government will support companies to increase investment for innovation," a ministry official said.
