The biggest topic in the New Year’s addresses of South Korea’s top 10 conglomerates this year was ‘AI (artificial intelligence).’ This was interpreted as a growing awareness that they need to quickly enhance their technological competitiveness by leveraging AI to respond to rapidly changing economic landscapes.
According to a frequency analysis of keywords used in the New Year’s addresses of the top 10 conglomerates this year by the CEO Score, a corporate data research institute, on the 3rd, the most frequently mentioned keyword was ‘AI’ (44 times). AI’s ranking surged from 10th place last year to 1st place this year, rising 9 spots. Notably, SK (15 times) and Samsung (10 times) mentioned AI the most. In their New Year’s addresses, SK stated, “Let us embark on the challenge of ‘seungpungparang’ (riding the wind and navigating the waves) to fearlessly navigate the turbulent waves of the global market with the wind of AI,” and Samsung said, “Let us lead technological standards with future competitiveness and customer trust that pioneer AI.”
Next, ‘customer’ and ‘change’ were frequently mentioned. ‘Customer’ (43 times) ranked second this year, following last year. Notably, Shinsegae (25 times) mentioned it the most. Additionally, LG has been the company that used ‘customer’ the most in its New Year’s addresses over the past five years.
‘Change’ appeared 42 times in this year’s New Year’s addresses, ranking third. Lotte and GS each mentioned it 9 times, while POSCO used it 8 times. Other frequently used keywords included ‘global (world)’ (40 times), ‘growth’ (35 times), and ‘technology’ (33 times). Additionally, ‘challenge’ (24 times, 10th place) newly entered the top 10 this year.
This survey was conducted by extracting key keywords from the full texts of New Year’s addresses or press releases published by South Korea’s top 10 conglomerates. For Samsung, the New Year’s address of its flagship company, Samsung Electronics, was used. In the case of Shinsegae, although it ranks 11th in the business world, it was included in the survey in place of the 10th-ranked Nonghyup.
