Jeong Eui-yong: "Korean Companies Planning Significant Investment in the U.S... Expecting Wise Decisions"

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong is delivering the keynote speech at the Kwanhun Club invitation debate held at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 20th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said that he understands that Korean companies are planning a considerable scale of investment in the United States and expressed hope that they will make wise decisions.

At the Kwanhun Forum held at the Seoul Press Center on the 21st, Minister Chung was asked about the response to President Biden's pressure on semiconductor investment. He said, "Our major companies have considerable capabilities not only in semiconductors but also in the electric vehicle battery sector, so I expect them to make very wise decisions at the corporate level."

Minister Chung said, "The government cannot step in and tell specific companies to cooperate with certain countries in specific fields," but added, "I believe our companies are making very wise decisions, and from what I have heard, although nothing has been finalized, they are planning considerable investments in the United States."

Minister Chung added, "It is certain that economic cooperation between our companies and the United States will significantly help improve Korea-US relations."

He also expressed expectations that such efforts by private companies during the 'vaccine swap' process will effectively contribute to forming a favorable opinion of Korea in the United States. Minister Chung said, "The US is interested in semiconductors, and there may be various cooperation areas such as electric vehicle batteries by our companies, but fundamentally, this cooperation is led by private companies," adding, "The expansion of cooperation by private companies in these fields will likely help form public opinion in the US political circles that 'we should help Korea with its vaccine difficulties.'"

Regarding the vaccine swap, he stated, "We are in serious discussions with the US, but since the US also faces domestic difficulties, it is hard to predict the outcome," and explained, "The US has a plan to achieve herd immunity by this summer, so they have told us that their domestic vaccine stockpile is not sufficient."

However, Minister Chung said, "In the early stages of COVID-19 last year, at the request of the US government, despite the tight domestic supply of diagnostic kits and masks, we directly supplied them to the US considering the special relationship between the two countries as allies," and added, "We have explained these circumstances to the US side and emphasized that 'a friend in need is a true friend.'"