SK Holds the Most Domestic Affiliates and Expands Overseas Subsidiaries... Owning 638 Entities

SK Increases Overseas Subsidiaries by 40 in One Year
Choi Leads Hanwha... Samsung Down 97 in 5 Years

Among large business groups, SK Group, which has the most domestic affiliates, increased its overseas subsidiaries by 40 within a year, holding a total of 638. While discussing the restructuring (rebalancing) of low-profit domestic affiliates and internal organizational adjustments, the number of overseas subsidiaries steadily grew.

Korea CXO Research Institute, a corporate analysis specialist, announced on the 27th the results of the "2024 Analysis of Overseas Affiliates of 88 Domestic Groups (Large Business Groups)." According to the survey, the 88 groups currently control 6,166 overseas affiliates across 129 countries. This is an increase of 480 (8.4%) from 5,686 last year. The number is 2,848 more than the 3,318 domestic affiliates these 88 groups have this year.

Hanwha was found to have the most overseas subsidiaries with 824, nearly doubling in three years. It increased by 377 (84.3%) from 447 in 2021.

SK ranked second with 638 subsidiaries, up 40 (6.7%) from 598 last year. SK's overseas subsidiaries first surpassed 500 in 2022 (541 subsidiaries) and exceeded 600 within two years after that.

Samsung was third with 563 subsidiaries. Samsung had the most overseas subsidiaries until 2021 (594 subsidiaries) but has been reducing them since 2018 (663 subsidiaries). Over five years until last year (566 subsidiaries), it decreased by 97 (14.6%). The so-called "de-China" trend appeared in the numbers. Samsung's affiliates in China (excluding Hong Kong) were 63 last year, down 24 (27.6%) from 87 in 2018.

There were 12 companies with more than 100 overseas subsidiaries this year. Hyundai Motor Company (425), CJ (401), LG (284), Lotte (203), GS (163), POSCO (149), Naver (106), Mirae Asset (104), and OCI (102) also had around 100 overseas subsidiaries.

By country, the United States had the most overseas subsidiaries with 1,590, an increase of 269 (20.4%) from 1,321 last year. The U.S. share grew from 18.8% in 2021, 22.1% in 2022, 23.2% last year, to 25.8% this year. China (827 subsidiaries) showed a different trend. While the total number of overseas subsidiaries of the 88 groups increased by 480 this year, Chinese subsidiaries decreased by 18 (2.1%). The share of China (excluding Hong Kong) shrank from 15.9% in 2022, 14.9% in 2023, to 13.4% this year.

Other countries with many subsidiaries included Vietnam (314), Japan (226), Singapore (217), Indonesia (199), France (196), India (158), Australia (156), and Germany (149). The number of Vietnamese subsidiaries showed an increasing trend, recording 268 in 2022, 299 last year, and 314 this year.

Oilseon Oh, head of CXO Research Institute, said, "There is a strong tendency to build factories locally overseas considering environmental regulations, logistics, and labor costs," adding, "The government should make efforts to increase employment opportunities by offering exceptional incentives to encourage companies to build factories domestically."