Choi Tae-won "Additional 29 Trillion Won Investment in the US" Biden "Historic Announcement" (Comprehensive)

Biden-Choi Tae-won Video Meeting at White House
SK Plans $30 Billion Investment in US
Strengthening Korea-US Cooperation... Securing Growth Engine for 'BBS'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil, New York=Special Correspondent Jo Seul-gi] SK Group will invest an additional $22 billion (approximately 28.8 trillion KRW) in the United States. Including the previously announced $7 billion investment plan, the total amount SK invests in the U.S. during President Joe Biden's administration reaches $29 billion. The investment sectors are the so-called ‘BBS’ four major fields: semiconductors, electric vehicle batteries, green energy, and bio. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has begun to actively secure growth momentum in the ‘BBS’ business through additional investments in the U.S.

◆ Chey Tae-won at the forefront of Korea-U.S. economic cooperation = On the 26th (local time), President Biden praised Chairman Chey’s U.S. investment announcement during his visit to the White House as a "historic announcement." Chairman Chey held a 25-minute video meeting with President Biden in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. The meeting was held virtually due to President Biden testing positive for COVID-19.

According to the White House, the meeting room included SK executives such as Chairman Chey, SK Hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho, and SK North America External Cooperation Chief Vice Chairman Yoo Jung-joon, along with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese. President Biden participated from the residence office.

President Biden showed familiarity by calling Chairman Chey by his English name, ‘Tony.’ He also expressed his gratitude without reservation, saying, "This is the most important investment in the U.S. to date," and even said he could cheer loudly for it.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At this occasion, Chairman Chey announced an additional $22 billion investment in the U.S. in the semiconductor, electric vehicle battery, bio sectors, the so-called ‘BBS’ industries. Considering the recently announced $7 billion investment in the electric vehicle battery sector, the total future investment in the U.S. will reach $29 billion.

Of the investment amount, $15 billion will be invested in strengthening the semiconductor ecosystem, including semiconductor research and development (R&D) cooperation and advanced packaging manufacturing facilities for memory semiconductors. Additionally, $2 billion will be invested in the cell and gene therapy field, and $5 billion in new investments in green energy sectors such as advanced small modular reactors.

Chairman Chey explained, "Half of the amount invested in the U.S. will go to the semiconductor ecosystem, contributing to the development of next-generation memory chips and benefiting the entire advanced technology industry in the U.S." He added, "In the battery sector, besides the battery plant in Georgia, we plan to invest up to an additional $7 billion to build giga factories in Tennessee and Kentucky as part of a joint venture with Ford."

◆ 179 trillion KRW domestic investment also proceeding as planned = SK Group’s ‘BBS investment in the U.S.’ is expected to have a significant ripple effect on the domestic industry. In the semiconductor sector, it is anticipated to strengthen the fundamental competitiveness of the domestic semiconductor industry through SK Hynix’s technological advancement.

Moreover, large-scale investments in electric vehicles and green energy could provide a foothold for domestic materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) companies cooperating with SK to enter the U.S. market, contributing to U.S. market entry and job creation for domestic companies.

SK Group plans to proceed without disruption with domestic investments amounting to 179 trillion KRW out of the total planned investment scale of 247 trillion KRW by 2026. The reason for investing more than 70% of the total investment domestically is that core production bases and R&D infrastructure, such as semiconductors, are located in Korea, so domestic infrastructure development and R&D support are essential.

An SK official stated, "The much larger domestic investment must proceed as planned for overseas investments to also achieve results. We plan to proceed steadily with both the newly announced U.S. investment plan and the already confirmed domestic investments."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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