Korea, U.S. sign 23 MOUs for cooperation in high-tech, energy sectors

President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers a speech at the U.S.-Korea Business Forum at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington on April 25(local), 2023. [Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea and the U.S. signed a total of 23 business agreements to boost bilateral cooperation on advanced industries and energy fields, including batteries, robots and nuclear power generation.

The memoranda of understanding were signed during a business partnership event in Washington on Tuesday local time involving 45 senior corporate officials from the two countries on the sidelines of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the U.S., according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

“The Korea-U.S. alliance has gone beyond the traditional military and security alliance to become a technology alliance,” Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang said. “We hope these agreements will create big achievements and the Korean government will actively support corporate activities.”

Participating Korean companies include Doosan Co., Doosan Robotics Inc., SK Inc., HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Lotte Chemical Corp., Korea Electric Power Corp. and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. From the U.S. side, Boeing Co., General Electric Co., ExxonMobil Corp. were among those that attended the event, the ministry said.

Of the agreements, 10 involve high-tech industries such as batteries, biotechnology, autonomous vehicles, aviation and robots, and the remaining 13 are related to clean energy sectors such as hydrogen, nuclear power generation and carbon neutrality.