Announcement of Corporate Investment in the US, South Korea 44 Trillion Won · US 28 Trillion Won... Why the Difference?

Biden Mentions Only $25 Billion
Big Gap with Korea's Announcement
Business Circles Say "Seems to Include Only Samsung and Hyundai"

President Moon Jae-in is visiting and inspecting the SK Innovation electric vehicle battery plant in Atlanta, USA, on the afternoon of the 22nd (local time). [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] South Korea estimates 44 trillion won, while the United States estimates 25 billion dollars (28 trillion won). The amount of investment by Korean companies in the U.S. estimated by the South Korean and U.S. governments shows a significant difference following the Korea-U.S. summit.

On the 23rd (local time), the White House released a summary of the Korea-U.S. summit stating, "The United States and South Korea welcome the investment announcements by leading companies," and "This investment, amounting to 25 billion dollars, reflects the long-standing economic cooperation between the U.S. and South Korea."

U.S. President Joe Biden also mentioned the same amount. At a joint press conference after the Korea-U.S. summit with President Moon Jae-in on the 21st, President Biden said, "Korean companies such as Samsung, Hyundai, SK, and LG have decided to invest 25 billion dollars in the United States," directly citing the scale of investment and the list of investing companies.

President Biden even requested the executives of these companies present at the press conference to stand up. When Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group; Kim Ki-nam, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics; Gong Young-woon, President of Hyundai Motor Company; and Kim Jong-hyun, CEO of LG Energy Solution stood up, the attendees applauded. President Biden expressed his gratitude repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you," and added, "We will do great things together."

On the other hand, the Blue House announced that the investment amount by Korean companies in the U.S. is about 44 trillion won. At the Korea-U.S. Business Roundtable event attended by President Moon, the four major groups?Samsung, Hyundai Motor Company, SK, and LG?revealed plans for U.S. investments totaling 40 billion dollars.

Samsung Electronics plans to invest 17 billion dollars in a new foundry plant, SK Hynix will invest 1 billion dollars in a research and development (R&D) center, and LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation will pursue new battery investments worth approximately 14 billion dollars through joint ventures or independent investments. Hyundai Motor Company plans to invest a total of 7.4 billion dollars in electric vehicle production and charging infrastructure expansion within the U.S.

Asia Economy requested detailed information from the U.S. State Department regarding the 25 billion dollar investment estimated by the U.S. but did not receive a response. An industry insider said, "It seems that the U.S. side only included the officially announced Samsung (17 billion dollars) and Hyundai Motor Company (7.4 billion dollars) investments on that day."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.