Lingering economic jitters here and abroad are holding back major conglomerates in South Korea from making new facility investment, as a weaker yen and North Korean risks have aggravated uncertainties, industry sources said Sunday.

According to company officials, Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea’s tech giant, has not made a single new facility investment this year. The world’s largest mobile phone maker said it decided not to disclose its investment plan for this year, citing market uncertainties.

LG Electronics Inc., the country’s major home appliance maker, has stayed put with its new facility investment and only acquired a mobile operation system “Web OS” so far in 2013.

LG Display, the flat panel giant, in contrast, said it plans to increase its production line by spending 700 billion won ($619.4 million) for eighth generation organic light emitting diode TVs.

Shipping lines, one of the sectors struggling the most due to the global downturn, have practically put a temporary stop on getting new orders from overseas, since the supply has outpaced the demand. (Yonhap News)