One out of five listed South Korean firms is a “marginal” company that cannot service its debts with earnings. 

According to an analysis of listed companies in South Korea and five major countries, out of two-thousand-260 South Korean firms, 440, or 19-point-five percent, were marginal companies at the end of the third quarter of last year. 

Marginal companies are corporations whose operating profits cannot cover their interest expenses for three straight years. 

According to the analysis by the Federation of Korean Industries, South Korea has the second-highest proportion of marginal companies among the six nations, after the United States, where the figure stands at 25 percent. 

France came in third with 19-point-four percent, followed by Germany, Britain and Japan.

The real estate industry had a disproportionate number of marginal companies, which made up 33-point-three percent of the total. 

Science, technology and service industries were next with 24-point-seven percent, followed by wholesalers and retailers with 24-point-six percent.