Seven large South Korean business groups, suspected of donating huge sums to two nonprofit foundations controlled by President Park Geun-hye's scandal-ridden confidante Choi Soon-sil, saw their non-operating expenses increase by a large extent last year from a year earlier, market data showed Sunday.

Park reportedly asked the heads of the seven conglomerates, including Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG and Hanwha, to donate large sums of money to the Mir and K-Sports foundations in group and one-on-one meetings in July last year.


According to the data by Chaebul.com, a local business data compiler, 75 companies affiliated with the seven business groups saw their non-operating expenses jump 16.2 percent on-year to a combined 27.2 trillion won in 2015, while their operating costs edged up 0.3 percent to 100.7 trillion won.

Non-operating expenses refer to costs incurred by businesses unrelated to the company's core operations, such as interest charges and social contributions or donations.

Meanwhile, the data also showed that their net profit tumbled over the cited period due to a sharp rise in non-operating expenses.

Samsung Group, the country's No. 1 business giant with 347.9 trillion won in assets, posted that its 15 listed affiliates' net profit fell 19.7 percent on-year to 15.9 trillion won in 2015, while their non-operating expenses surged 20 percent to 11.1 trillion won.

Runner-up Hyundai Motor Group, whose total assets reach 204 trillion won, saw its net profit drop 4.2 percent on-year to 11.1 trillion won last year, with its non-operating expenses soaring 30.6 percent. (Yonhap)