LG Energy, KT join KED’s top 30 Korean innovator list

KT Corp. and Studio Dragon Corp. have joined the ranks of South Korea’s most innovative companies thanks to their creation of cultural products, so-called K-content, a recent executive survey has found. LG Energy Solution Ltd., the country’s No. 1 secondary battery maker, was newly selected among the very top innovators given its expansion amid the rapid growth in the global electric vehicle market.

The Korea Economic Daily (KED) and global market research firm Ipsos Group announced on Tuesday the Top 30 Innovator list for 2022 based on a survey of 100 corporate chief executives and 30 asset manager CEOs in Korea conducted from July 22 to Aug. 30.

On the list for the first time, Studio Dragon, the country’s leading drama production house, made it all the way to 11th place, while domestic telecom giant KT, also new, came in at 16th. 

KT was evaluated as the most dramatically transformed company by the poll participants. KT, once a state-run carrier, would be expected to involve itself in traditional network services such as the landline and wireless telecommunications and internet businesses.

But the telco was reborn as a content creator as the KT-produced Netflix drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo hit the jackpot at home and abroad.

KT’s telecommunication sector is still its main business with sales up 1.7% to 9.3 trillion won ($6.8 billion) last year. That compared with the company’s media and mobile platform unit, sales of which increased 15% to 2.1 trillion won.

PRODUCER OF BLOCKBUSTER K-DRAMAS

Studio Dragon has fanned the global fever for South Korean dramas with blockbuster series such as Sweet Home, Crash Landing on You and Mr. Sunshine.

The company, split off from the country’s entertainment behemoth CJ ENM Co. in 2016, has been entertaining global fans with some 150 dramas produced by 279 star creators such as star screenwriter Kim Eun-sook of Descendants of the Sun.

Studio Dragon provides the content not only to cable channels of its parent CJ ENM such as tvN, but also local broadcasting networks and over-the-top (OTT) media services at home and abroad.

It has also joined forces with global OTT service providers including Netflix Inc. and Disney+ for overseas markets. The production house’s operating profit nearly doubled to 27 billion won in the second quarter from a year earlier with sales up 48% to 157.5 billion won.

On the Innovator list, HYBE Co., the label behind the world’s top boy band BTS, upped its rank to No. 8, one notch higher than in 2021.

The KED started compiling the list last year. Shares of the selected companies were included in the KEDI Innovator ESG30 Index, the media outlet’s in-house indicator, from Tuesday.

K-content including drama series, movies and pop music grew more popular worldwide, prompting more domestic companies to seek future growth engines in the entertainment sector.

SMALL BUT STRONG PLAYERS

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s top memory chipmaker, maintained its throne on the list, followed by platform giants Kakao Corp. and Naver Corp.

The country’s top secondary battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. and the No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor Co. ranked No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.

Small but prominent companies joined the list. EcoPro BM Co., a leading battery material producer, ranked No. 9. In the bio sector, ST Pharm Co. and ABL Bio Inc. were selected as innovators ranking No. 27 and No. 29, respectively. Dongjin Semichem Co., a semiconductor material maker, entered the list to rank No. 28.

The KED and Ipsos sent a list of 100 companies in the information technology, platform, future technology and bio sectors to the poll participants to compile the top 30 list.

Ranking	Company	Sector	Ranking	Company	Sector
1	Samsung Electronics Co.	IT	16	KT Corp.	Platform
2	Kakao Corp.	Platform	17	Leeno Industrial Inc.	IT
3	Naver Corp.	Platform	18	POSCO Chemical	Future Technology
4	LG Energy Solution Ltd.	Future Technology	19	Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co.	Bio
5	Hyundai Motor Co.	Future Technology	20	Hyundai Mobis Co.	Future Technology
6	Samsung Biologics	Bio	21	NCSOFT Corp.	Platform
7	SK Hynix Inc.	IT	22	Soulbrain Co.	Future Technology
8	HYBE Co.	Platform	23	Mirae Asset Securities	Platform
9	EcoPro BM Co.	Future Technology	24	Yuhan Corp.	Bio
10	Celltrion Inc.	Bio	25	KB Financial Group	Platform
11	Studio Dragon	Platform	26	Hanwha Solutions	Future Technology
12	LG Innotek	IT	27	ST Pharm Co.	Bio
13	Samsung SDI Co.	IT	28	Dongjin Semichem Co.	IT
14	LG Electronics Inc.	IT	29	ABL Bio Inc.	Bio
15	SK Biopharmaceutical	Bio	30	Hyosung Advanced Materials	Future Technology

*New entries are in pink cells

To select the 100 firms, the media outlet and the research firm chose companies whose sales increased from three years ago and those with average research and development costs of more than 5% of sales over the three years. They also included companies that spent more than 10% of their sales on capital expenditures.

The KED and Ipsos picked companies with larger market capitalizations that are working in innovative industries including IT, finance, bio, internet, mobile, future transportation and other sectors. 

The survey conductors selected 50 innovative companies first and then narrowed it down to 30 companies based on an environmental, social and governance assessment model KED jointly developed with the country’s Yonsei University and IBS Consulting Company.

Write to Tae-Hoon Lee, Hee-Kyung Kim and Hyeong-Gyo Seo at beje@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.