Korea’s Yoon meets with heads of major Korean, U.S. companies

President Yoon Suk Yeol, in front of the Korean flag, hosts a Korea-U.S. business roundtable in Washington D.C. on April 25 (local). [Photo by Yonhap]

President Yoon Suk Yeol hosted a Korea-U.S. business roundtable in Washington D.C. on Tuesday local time with the heads of major Korean and U.S. companies on the sidelines of his state visit to the U.S. from April 24-29.

Korean attendees in the event included Samsung Electronics Co. Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo. From the U.S. side, top executives of major semiconductor, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and information technology companies, including Qualcomm Inc., Corning Inc., Lam Research Corp., Microsoft Corp., Google LLC, IBM Corp., Tesla Inc., General Motors Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. attended.

The attendees focused their remarks on the cooperative relationship between Korean and U.S. companies in an apparent bid to highlight the significance of Yoon’s state visit to the U.S. to mark the 70th anniversary of the bilateral alliance. In particular, Samsung Electronics Lee noted that companies in the two countries have been working closely together on the basis of a strong Korea-U.S. alliance. “It is time to further such cooperation for common prosperity for the next 70 years,” he said.

“In an era when technology is security, it is important to secure a stable semiconductor supply chain,” SK’s Chey said. “SK is investing in cutting-edge semiconductor wafer facilities in Michigan along with TerraPower LLC and is also pushing to commercialize small modular reactors by 2030. SK will continue to play a role as a member of the bilateral economic security partnership so that companies from both countries will continue to work together to create a future for technological cooperation.”

LG’s Koo noted that the U.S. is leading industry trends based on its innovative ideas and abundant demand, while Korea has strengths in materials and parts manufacturing technology. “LG is cooperating with GM and Tesla in the field of electric vehicle batteries and expects sales in the U.S., which currently stands at $30 billion, to double in five years,” he said.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, right, Samsung Electronics Co. Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee, center, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, second from left, at the Korea-U.S. business roundtable in Washington D.C. on April 25 (local). [Photo by Yonhap]

Hyundai Motor’s Chung, who recently decided to invest in an EV battery plant in the U.S. to be eligible for subsidies under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), reportedly engaged in active discussions on adopting eco-friendly policies and supplying hydrogen fuel cell tractors.

Corning Chief Executive Officer Wendell Weeks unveiled a plan to invest an additional $1.5 billion in Korea over the next five years, noting that his company has invested more than $10 billion in Korea and created thousands of jobs over the past 50 years. Lam Research, a semiconductor equipment company that has already promised to build a research and development center in Korea, promised to play a significant role in helping Korea build the world’s largest semiconductor supply chain by 2030.

U.S. companies involved clean energy, electric vehicles and aviation expressed their willingness to continue discussions with Korea for safe energy supply based on nuclear power generation and to invest in the battery sector, for which Korea has a global reputation. In a related development, TerraPower signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corp. for joint overseas expansion and also announced joint ventures of more than $3 billion with LG and Samsung SDI Co.

In the defense sector, Lockheed Martin is reportedly engaged in marketing the two-seat, single-engine light fighter/advanced trainer FA-50 in partnership with Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., with the goal of exporting 1,300 FA-50s around the world.

The event was also attended by Korean Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. Korea and the U.S. are ideal partners and allies that complement each other and share core values, Raimondo said, adding that there needs to a continuous partnership in next-generation advanced technologies, such as semiconductors, batteries, and electric vehicles.

After listing to all the remarks, Yoon reportedly commented “I believe that companies should grow and create economic value for the prosperity of citizens in Korea and the world.” Yoon vowed to do his best to facilitate cooperation between companies in the two countries.