Top S. Korean companies hit

SEOUL, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- South Korea's top 10 conglomerates have seen nearly $80 billion of their market capitalization evaporate thus far this year.

Citing the Korean Stock Exchange, the Korea Times reported that between January through last Monday, these businesses shed 105.8 trillion won, or $79.4 billion, to 328 trillion won, or about $247 billion -- a drop of 24.4 percent.

During the same period, the overall value of the Korean stock market gave up 28.4 percent to the current capitalization of 752.8 trillion won or $567 billion.

The report said the decline in the country's currency this year benefited the export-oriented companies but other companies were badly hit by rising oil prices.

Among the conglomerates, even those with healthy cash flows were concentrating more on cash than making major investments because of concerns the current turbulence may go on much longer than expected.

Of the about 590 companies listed on the stock exchange, the report said only 46 percent have future hiring plans. The current youth unemployment rate hovers around 7.1 percent.

"Enterprises are turning more conservative due to the financial difficulty. Consequently, there will be less hiring and investment for some time," Lee Hyun-seok, chief of the research division at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the newspaper.