Seoul: Transactions among affiliates of South Korea's 10 largest family-run conglomerates, commonly known as chaebols, accounted for nearly 70 percent of the total disclosed trading in 2025, the country's corporate watchdog revealed.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) reported that inter-affiliate transactions by the top 10 chaebols reached a total value of 193 trillion won (US$131 billion) this year. This figure represents 68.7 percent of the 281 trillion won reported by a total of 92 business groups. The top conglomerates include Samsung Group, home to the global memory chip leader Samsung Electronics Co., as well as SK Group and LG Group, which are prominent players in multiple industries.

The FTC highlighted that the top 10 chaebols have maintained an average internal transaction ratio of approximately 13 percent over the past decade. Notably, HD Hyundai and Hanwha experienced the largest increases in intra-group transaction ratios, with rises of 7 and 4.6 percentage points, respectively. In contrast, LG Group and Lotte Group saw the largest declines, dropping by 7.3 and 2.4 percentage points, respectively.

Internal trading within chaebols has been a topic of criticism, as it is perceived to allow owner families to secure substantial profits by awarding lucrative contracts to their subsidiaries.