[Herald Interview] SK’s investment in Kentucky to attract more investors like ‘gravity’: Gov.

US governor vows full support for Korean businesses to weather uncertainties

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (AP)

SK On’s new battery plant in Kentucky – the world’s largest of its kind – will help attract more investments into the US state like “gravity,” Gov. Andy Beshear told The Korea Herald in an interview held in Seoul on Monday.

SK On, the battery-making unit of SK Group, has set up a joint venture with US auto giant Ford, called BlueOval SK, in the southeastern state of the US, with a whopping $5.8 billion investment.

“SK On’s project is the largest in our state’s history. It’s going to create some 5,000 new jobs,” the governor said during the Seoul stop on his economic development trip to Asia. “So when you think of something that big, the biggest ever, I describe it as having gravity. It brings other companies there. In the long run, I believe they need other suppliers there.”

Arriving Saturday, he met with leaders of the state's key investors and potential business partners, including SK On, Lotte Chemical and LG Chem. He was to take off for Japan on Wednesday.

According to the governor, his state witnessed significant interest from Korean companies about relocating to Kentucky after the state landed the massive SK investment.

"So a lot of our work with SK and Ford is about talking about what suppliers they need and how close that they need them," Beshear said, predicting dozens of Korean companies would come to Kentucky in the coming years.

Over the concerns on possible delay in production for the BlueOval SK's first manufacturing plant Kentucky 1 amid the downturn in the EV market overall, the governor said the facility will kick off production as scheduled in the first half of 2025.

For the second Kentucky 2, currently under construction, the company may need "a little flexibility" to kick off production on the targeted date in 2026.

Seven Korean companies are located in Kentucky, hiring some 1,000 people locally. During the governor’s visit, Shinsung ST, a secondary battery parts supplier announced it would invest 40 billion won ($29 million) to build a production facility in the US state.

"Our goal is to be a good partner in state government to ensure that we win the speed-to-market race that if you choose Kentucky over another state your facility gets built and it is operating faster than anywhere else. That's the type of promise that we make," Beshear said.

"We think we're a very good landing place when companies want to put their first facility in the US. We're within a one-day drive of 60 percent of the US population and so it makes it ideal if you manufacture in a place like Kentucky and then to be able to easily serve the rest of the US."

For companies to reduce uncertainties and secure bargaining power in the US market, their best partners can be the state and local governments of the region they invested in, Beshear said.

"Remember those investments create good American jobs which is a good insurance policy to ensure that it continues. No president wants to derail a strong economy," he stressed.

He agreed that the tough part is figuring out what is rhetoric in a campaign and what actual policy might be pursued.

"Trade policy can be complicated, but that's why you need everybody at the table because a company impacted by trade policy I've seen firsthand knows every nuance of that trade policy. ... So how do we achieve their goal and the US' strategic aim, we need to make sure that we are able to hear that (the company's) perspective," the governor said.

His visit to Korea is also one of the ways to build a strong partnership, which would provide "another communication channel" for companies to relay their requests to the federal government, Beshear added.

On Monday, the governor also signed a Driver's License Reciprocity Agreement with Korea's National Policy Agency, allowing Koreans relocating to the US to better adapt to life in Kentucky.

By Jo He-rim(herim@heraldcorp.com)