The dividend payouts by South Korea's top 100 firms in terms of market capitalization, surged last year in the face of growing pressure from shareholders and the government to deliver more cash, South Korean industry data showed on Sunday. 
The firms such as top market cap Samsung Electronics Co. paid a combined 17.42 trillion won (US$15.2 billion) in dividends to shareholders last year, up 33.3% or 13.07 trillion won from the previous year, according to the data compiled by industry tracker Chaebul.com. 
Samsung Electronics delivered a total of 3.07 trillion won in cash to shareholders last year, up 2.3% from a year earlier. 
The second-most valued firm, Korea Electric Power Corp., paid 1.99 trillion won, followed by Hyundai Motor Co. with 1.08 trillion won, SK Telecom Co. with 708 billion won, POSCO with 640 billion won and Shinhan Financial Group with 631 billion won, the data showed. 
The surge in dividend payouts came as local firms have adopted the shareholders-friendly measure to attract more investors amid the government's pressure to raise dividend payouts. 
Companies here have been stingy in paying dividends, a key reason why South Korean stocks are undervalued. Their dividend payout ratio stands at 22.4 % as of 2014, far below the average of 47.7 % of other countries, according to the main bourse operator Korea Exchange.