As they enter the U.S. market and pour in massive expense, domestic corporations are rechecking their investment strategies to brace for uncertainty. The move follows the incident in which about 300 Koreans were arrested at a U.S. battery factory construction site.
As of the 14th, according to the industry, many corporations, including LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor, as well as Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI, SK hynix, SK On, CJ CheilJedang, and LS Cable & System, are pursuing the construction and expansion of factories in the United States.
At the HL-GA plant, the epicenter of this incident, LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor invested about $6.3 billion (8.8 trillion won). With key personnel all leaving the United States, construction of this plant is expected to be delayed by at least two to three months.
In addition, LG Energy Solution is building factories in four areas, including Queen Creek, Arizona; Lansing, Michigan; and Fayette County, Ohio.
Samsung SDI is building joint-venture plants in Indiana with Stellantis and General Motors (GM), respectively. The combined investment in the two plants amounts to $7.4 billion (10.3 trillion won). SK On is also building plants in Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
Samsung Electronics is constructing a foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) plant in Texas with a total investment of more than $37 billion (51.6 trillion won). SK hynix is preparing to build a back-end semiconductor plant in Indiana for next-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM) production by investing $3.87 billion (5.4 trillion won).
Hanwha decided to make an additional $5 billion (7 trillion won) investment in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard as part of the Korea-U.S. shipbuilding industry cooperation project "MASGA" (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again).
Including the battery industry, the scale of investment that domestic corporations are pouring across the United States in semiconductors, shipbuilding, and automobiles exceeds 200 trillion won.
An official in the battery industry said, "We are analyzing the impact that the visa issue, which surfaced due to this incident, will have on future business in the United States. We are also checking existing investment plans."
This incident is prompting louder calls for improvements to the visa system. The government will launch a working group to resolve visa issues between Korea and the United States and plans to discuss concrete measures, including expanding employment visa quotas.
Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik emphasized, "Although it takes time to fundamentally overhaul the problem, discussions must proceed quickly to remove distrust so corporations can invest in and work in the United States safely."