South Korean companies are set to increase dividend payouts for 2014 under growing government pressure to return more to shareholders, data showed Monday.

Among the 18 listed companies that have announced their dividend plans as of Friday, 15 said they would deliver more to shareholders with their 2014 dividends to be paid standing at 1.84 trillion won ($1.7 billion), up 38 percent from the previous year, according to disclosure filings by each firm.

Among them, NCsoft Corp., an online game developer, marked the highest year-on-year growth in dividend payout from 609 won per share to 3,430 won, raising its dividend payment by 5.7 times to 68.5 billion won for 2014.

The move comes as the government passed a law to tax corporate cash reserves that are in excess of a certain amount in a broader effort to encourage companies to spend more on wages, dividends and investment.

Korean companies have been stingy in paying dividends, a key reason why South Korean stocks are undervalued, with the dividend payout ratio standing at 22.4 percent, far below the average of 47.7 percent of other countries, according to the bourse operator Korea Exchange. (Yonhap)