More than 100 executives from South Korea’s top firms plan to join President Yoon Suk Yeol on a visit to the US this month that will focus on economic cooperation and securing supply chains less dependent on China for items such semiconductors.
(Bloomberg) — More than 100 executives from South Korea’s top firms plan to join President Yoon Suk Yeol on a visit to the US this month that will focus on economic cooperation and securing supply chains less dependent on China for items such semiconductors.
A total of 122 representatives from companies including Samsung Electronics Co. Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Hyundai Motor Co.’s Executive Chair Euisun Chung, will be part of the delegation for the state visit, presidential economic adviser Choi Sang-mok told reporters Wednesday.
It is the largest business group to join Yoon on a trip abroad since he took office about a year ago, Choi said of the visit that will be crucial in supporting South Korea’s export-driven economy. Yoon is set to meet President Joe Biden at the White House on April 26 and give a speech at Harvard University in Massachusetts during his trip.
The trip will be a difficult test for Yoon, whose country depends on the US as its main security ally against the likes of North Korea, and also relies on China as its biggest trading partner.
The Biden administration is seeking help from its global partners to impose sweeping curbs on the sale of advanced chips equipment to China. The policy is aimed at preventing the country’s progression in a range of cutting-edge technologies that could threaten America’s status as the world’s preeminent power.
South Korean companies won a one-year reprieve from the sweeping US export controls unveiled in October that prevent chipmakers from bringing in equipment for their advanced facilities into China. Without a license extension, it is unclear how Samsung and SK Hynix Inc. would proceed. Both depend on China as a key market and a manufacturing site for their memory chips.
“The global supply chain is being restructured with a focus on stability, allied nations, and advanced technology,” Choi said. Yoon’s government has been an advocate of the Biden administration’s Asia strategy, including the US’s initiative to restructure global supply chains.
The US has also been seeking to assuage Hyundai Motor’s concerns over parts of Biden’s climate and energy bill, which the South Korean carmaker has argued could put it at a disadvantage in the American market.
The act requires electric vehicle makers to assemble their cars in North America and reduce their reliance on China for battery components and materials to get a maximum $7,500 in tax credits. That’s been a major blow to Hyundai and affiliate Kia, which don’t have any operational EV plants in the US.
Hyundai is investing about $5.5 billion to build an EV assembly and battery plant near Savannah, Georgia. The South Korean carmaker said the project would create 8,100 new jobs at the twin plants, breaking ground in early 2023 with production to start in 2025.
Yoon has seen his approval fall to its lowest level in about six months, dragged down by his response to leaked documents that purportedly showed the US spied on its South Korean ally. Seoul has been trying to play down the leak, which has embarrassed Washington.
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