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Big companies in South Korea increased their investments in research and development (R&D) activities last year despite decreased earnings, a corporate data tracker said on Tuesday.

Their combined R&D investments rose 9.4 percent to 73.42 trillion won ($54 billion) in 2023 from 67.14 trillion won a year earlier, according to a recent survey of 224 firms by the data tracker CEO Score.

They suffered declines in sales and operating profit due to an economic slowdown but they executed their planned R&D spending for future growth, the survey showed, reports Yonhap news agency.

Samsung Electronics topped others in terms of the value of R&D investments. It spent 28.35 trillion won last year, up 14 per cent from a year ago.

The country's top 10 conglomerates, including LG Electronics, SK hynix, Hyundai Motor, LG Chem, Hyundai Mobis and Kakao were among the 224 companies.

They accounted for more than 70 per cent of the overall R&D investments by the surveyed firms, CEO Score said.