Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy smartphone line was ranked first in a survey of Korea’s top 100 brands in the first quarter, a local brand equity evaluator said Sunday.

According to the survey by Brand Stock, the nation’s most popular smartphone brand retained the top spot for the second consecutive year with the highest score of 938. E-mart, the nation’s largest discount franchise, came in second.

Olleh, the flagship brand of KT, was named the third-most popular brand in Korea. KB Kookmin Bank and Korean Air took the fourth and fifth spots.

Kakao Talk, the nation’s No. 1 local mobile messaging application, made its debut on the list, ranking 28th. It beat out global social network service competitors like Twitter (30th) and Facebook (39th).

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)