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Samsung Electronics generated 26 percent of total South Korean corporate profits last year, boosting worries about the economy's excessive dependence on a single company.
Rep. Hong Jong Haak of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy said in a press release Thursday that the economic power is getting more concentrated on a certain large company, warning that if such structural problem is not resolved, it may lead to a collapse in the overall industry except for some large corporations.
Net income of 492,288 South Korean firms, excluding financial companies and insurers, totaled 68.97 trillion won (65 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013, down 20.4 percent from a year earlier.
Samsung's net income increased from 17.4 trillion won in 2012 to 17.93 trillion won in 2013, which accounted for 26 percent of the total. It was up from 20.4 percent in 2012.
Bipolarization deepened in the country as the overall corporate profit posted a double-digit decline in contrast to some conglomerates outperforming the economy, Hong said, adding that such concentration got stronger under the Park Geun-hye administration.
Net income of Samsung, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, the country's big three companies, took up 37.3 percent of the total in 2013, up from 28.7 percent in 2012.
