$5.9 billion of investment announced during Yoon's visit

U.S. companies committed $5.9 billion of investment to Korea during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center in the front row, poses for a photo, alongside with business leaders including Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, far left in the second row, Hyundai Motor Executive Chair Euisun Chung, third from left in the front row, SK Inc. Chairman Chey Tae-won, second from right in the front row, LG Corporation Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, second from left in the second row. [YONHAP]

U.S. companies committed $5.9 billion of investment to Korea during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit.

Corning will make an investment of $1.5 billion in Korea over the next five years, CEO of the New York-based specialty glass producer announced during a business roundtable in Washington Tuesday.

During the event, attended by Yoon with the heads of the largest chaebol, six U.S. tech companies agreed to invest a combined $1.9 billion in Korea in semiconductor, hydrogen and decarbonizing businesses.

The commitments came a day after Netflix said it would invest $2.5 billion in K-content over the next four years.

U.S. investment commitments during Yoon’s visit to Washington total $5.9 billion as of Wednesday, according to the president’s office.

The six companies are Onsemi, Air Products, Plug Power, Greene Tweed, PureCycle Technologies and EMP Belstar.

Onsemi will build a manufacturing facility for power chips, while Greene Tweed will set up a factory for semiconductor equipment.

Air Products and Plug Power will set up hydrogen-related facilities. PureCycle Technologies will establish a plastic recycling facility, and EMP Belstar a cold storage logistics center.

The areas of investment include those related to hydrogen, fuel cells, power semiconductors, plastic recycling and cold logistics.

Some 180 business leaders from both countries attended the meeting, including Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics, Euisun Chung of Hyundai Motor, Chey Tae-won of SK Inc., Koo Kwang-mo of LG Corporation, Shin Dong-bin of Lotte and Kim Dong-kwan, vice chairman of Hanwha Corporation.

Yoon discussed expanding the business alliance between Korea and the U.S. especially in the high-tech field, with the top executives from major U.S. companies, such as IBM, Microsoft, Google, Qualcomm, General Electric, GM, Tesla, Lockheed Martin, Moderna and Biogen.

In a separate ceremony on the sidelines of the state visit, Korea and the United States signed a total of 23 business agreements to cooperate in batteries and biopharmaceuticals.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Wednesday that 23 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were signed between Korean and U.S. companies, in high-tech sectors.

Korean signers of the MOUs include Doosan, SK, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Hyundai E&C, Lotte Chemical, Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP).

Of them, Lotte Chemical inked a MOU with CF Industries Holdings, the world’s biggest ammonia producer, which is based in Deerfield, Illinois, to build an ammonia facility in Louisiana.

The two parties agreed to construct a blue ammonia production plant in the U.S. state, though specific details about the investment have not been disclosed.

Other companies include The Boeing Company, Rockwell Automation, TerraPower, NuScale Power, Holtec International, ExxonMobil, and Siemens.

In high-tech, 10 MOUs involving batteries, biopharmaceuticals, autonomous driving, aerospace, robotics and cybersecurity were signed.

Doosan Corporation and Doosan Robotics agreed to jointly develop robotics technologies and products with Rockwell Automation.

Boeing will work with the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology and Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology to develop talent and develop in aerospace.

In energy, 13 MOUs were signed in a bid to expand cooperation from the traditional fossil fuel industry into renewables, nuclear energy and hydrogen.

SK Innovation and KHNP will work with TerraPower to build a fourth-generation small modular reactor (SMR) model.

Kepco will work with GE Vernova on technological cooperation in the ammonia and hydrogen businesses.

Doosan Enerbility and Korea Eximbank signed an MOU with NuScale for SMR business.

"The Korea-U.S. Alliance is being extended from the traditional security and military cooperation into ties in the high-tech industry," Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang said, promising active support for the upcoming joint projects.

BY PARK EUN-JEE, LEE HO-JEONG, SHIN HA-NEE, SARAH CHEA [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]