SEOUL -- South Korea's semiconductor industry has proven so dominant in the country's corporate sector that a single segment controlled by Samsung Electronics makes the difference between record aggregate profit and a relatively flat period.
During the first nine months of the year, 525 companies listed domestically made over 120.45 trillion won ($108 billion) in operating profit, the Korea Exchange reported Wednesday. The black ink rose 28% on the year, an all-time high for the interval and the first time the metric topped 100 trillion won.
