South Korean economy increasingly dependent on semiconductors

South Korea's two largest chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix accounted for nearly HALF of the total operating profits generated by the nation's big companies. It's one of the clearest signs yet that South Korea's economy is heavily dependent on the semiconductors market. Kim Hyo-sun tells us more. The South Korean economy is increasingly dependent on semiconductors. A review of the country's 100 largest companies by market capitalization carried out by CEO Score, a corporate research firm,... showed the combined income of the 89 companies that released consolidated financial statements in 2018 stood at 142 billion U.S. dollars. By company,... Samsung Electronics,... the world's largest chipmaker and South Korea's second-largest chipmaker, SK hynix recorded 51-point-7 billion and 18-point-2 billion dollars of operating profits, respectively. The two companies made up nearly 50 percent of all the operating profits generated by the country's large companies. Putting aside the two chipmakers,... the online evaluation site pointed out that overall operating profits stood at 71-point-8 billion dollars last year,... down eleven percent from 2017. Meanwhile, an analysis report released recently said U.S. tech giant Intel could topple Samsung Electronics in terms of profits soon.Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.