Jung Eui-sun and Shin Dong-bin Meet at Lotte Chemical... Exploring Collaboration on New Electric Vehicle Materials (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, and Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte Group, met on the 25th at the Lotte Chemical business site.

According to Lotte Chemical, Chairman Chung Eui-sun and Hyundai Motor executives visited the Lotte Chemical Uiwang plant in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, around 4 p.m. that day. Chairman Shin Dong-bin and Lee Young-jun, Head of Lotte Chemical Advanced Materials Business, welcomed Chairman Chung and his party.

The Uiwang plant is home to high-performance synthetic resin materials such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) used in automobiles, as well as a research and development (R&D) center focused on construction, interior, and material fields.

A Lotte Chemical official said, "Chairman Shin and Chairman Chung toured the product exhibition hall and the Material Design Research Center for about 40 minutes," adding, "The division they visited produces engineering plastics for automotive use."

In the business community, it is seen that this meeting was arranged in the form of Chairman Shin inviting Chairman Chung to the Lotte Chemical site as part of on-site management.

The exact purpose of their meeting has not been disclosed, but it is believed they discussed collaboration in the development of new automotive materials. Since the Uiwang plant focuses on high-performance advanced material R&D, it is likely they discussed ways to apply Lotte Chemical’s advanced materials to Hyundai Motor’s automobiles.

Chairman Chung has recently continued his cooperative efforts with other major companies by meeting consecutively with the heads of Korea’s top three battery companies: Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group; Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics; and Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, to discuss electric vehicle-battery business cooperation.