South Korea's state-invested companies had the
second-largest asset value among the world's major economies in 2008, but their contribution to employment was low, a report showed Friday.
According to the report compiled by the Korea Institute of Public Finance (KIPF), the asset value of South Korean public companies amounted to US$151 billion as of the end of 2008, placing second among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.
The asset value of Japanese state-run companies was the highest at $219 billion, followed by France with $116 billion and Italy with $113 billion, according to the report.
In terms of the market value of listed public enterprises, France's state-run companies topped the list with $115.9 billion, while their South
Korean counterparts were valued at $28 billion.
The U.S. public firms hired the most with a total of 1.1 million employees. France, Britain and Japan were also big hirers but South Korean
firms hired only 184,000 people, the report showed.