South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics' Galaxy smartphone was selected as the most valuable brand in South Korea for the fifth consecutive year, a survey showed Sunday. 

The Samsung Galaxy phone ranked first in the brand survey by Seoul-based market researcher Brandstock, followed by E-Mart, a discount store chain by retail giant Shinsegae Co.

Incheon International Airport, South Korea's gateway airport, climbed up one notch to take third place.

Kakao Talk, South Korea's biggest mobile messenger with 47 million users, and Naver, the nation's No. 1 Internet portal, came next, the researcher said.

The brand value of German automakers suffered after Volkswagen admitted that millions of its diesel cars worldwide were equipped with software that was used to cheat on emissions tests.

BMW's rank tumbled from 12th to 31st, and Volkswagen, which ranked 71st last year, dropped out of the top 100, following the emissions cheating scandal, it said. (Yonhap)