Martial Arts, 'Economic Delegation' Dispatched to the US... First Step in 'Private Economic Security' Cooperation

Chairman Koo Ja-yeol Meets with Over 10 Key U.S. Congress and Government Officials
13 Companies Including LG, SK Hynix, Hyundai Motor Participate
Meets Key Figures from Texas, Tennessee, California, and Other States with Korean Presence

Emphasizes 'Supply Chain Cooperation'... IPEF, Digital Transformation, Decarbonization, etc.

After a meeting with the "Economic Cooperation Delegation to the U.S." composed of 13 representatives from companies including LG, SK Hynix, Hyundai Motor, and others entering the U.S. market, Koo Ja-yeol, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (fourth from the left), and delegation members including Senator Ted Cruz of Texas (third from the right) took a commemorative photo. Samsung Electronics and others have established operations in Texas. (Photo by Korea International Trade Association)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Koo Ja-yeol, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), met with more than 10 key figures from the U.S. Congress and government in Washington D.C., urging the strengthening of supply chain cooperation between the two countries. He led an economic delegation composed of 13 local companies including LG, SK Hynix, and Hyundai Motor Company, marking the first step in 'private sector economic security' cooperation.

On the 23rd, KITA announced that it sent a 'Delegation for Economic Cooperation with the U.S.' to Washington D.C., led by Chairman Koo and including 13 U.S.-based companies such as LG, SK Hynix, Hyundai Motor, SeAH Steel, and Exicon. During the two-day visit from the 22nd to 23rd (local time), the delegation met with state legislators from Texas, Tennessee, and California?states with active Korean corporate presence?as well as key officials from the National Economic Council (NEC) and the National Security Council (NSC), the control towers of U.S. supply chain policy. They emphasized Korea’s position as a 'trusted supply chain partner.'

Leading Korean companies such as Samsung, LG, SK, and Hanwha have established operations in the U.S. Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor plant is located in Austin, Texas, with a large-scale factory planned in Taylor. In Tennessee, LG Energy Solution-General Motors (GM) joint venture Ultium Cells and SK On-Ford joint venture BlueOvalSK are building factories. Hanwha Solutions’ U.S. subsidiary operates in California.

On the previous day, Chairman Koo met with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, stating, "The first step in the Korea-U.S. economic security alliance is supply chain cooperation, and the core actors in economic cooperation are companies and talent." He requested support to ensure that Korean companies, actively investing in the U.S. as supply chain partners, can secure smooth workforce supply and infrastructure development.

On the same day, Chairman Koo also met with California State Senator Alex Padilla to discuss supply chain cooperation and held talks with key officials from the NEC and NSC, which play central roles in U.S. supply chain policy. He told NSC Senior Advisors Peter Harrell and Melanie Nakagawa, and NEC Vice Chair Samira Fazili, "The U.S. possesses core technologies in advanced industries, and Korea has excellent manufacturing capabilities. Through mutual cooperation, we can achieve synergy across various industries." He added, "We should strengthen supply chains through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and further enhance bilateral cooperation in digital transformation, clean energy, and decarbonization."

Additionally, the delegation participated in a roundtable hosted by the Former Members of Congress (FMC) association, discussing ways to promote bilateral trade and investment cooperation with six members of the House of Representatives, including Young Kim and Ami Bera from the Congressional Study Group on Korea (CSGK). They also attended a reception hosted by the association. Kim Hyun-chul, Head of KITA’s Global Cooperation Division, said, "This is the first private economic cooperation delegation formed since the Korea-U.S. summit last month," and added, "In the second half of the year, we plan to dispatch delegations mainly to state governments where our companies are actively investing to pursue more concrete supply chain cooperation."

In commemoration of June as the Month of Patriots and Veterans, the delegation also visited the Korean War Veterans Memorial to pay tribute. KITA met with representatives of the Korean War Veterans Association in the U.S. to express gratitude for their efforts in the Korea-U.S. alliance and donated over $100,000 to the Korean War Veterans Association and the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation.