On the 16th, heads of major Korean conglomerates met with President Lee Jae-myung, expressed their intention to cooperate with the government to ensure there are no setbacks in follow-up work on the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations, and promised to boost domestic investment and employment.
At the "public-private joint meeting on follow-up to the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations" held at the presidential office building in Yongsan, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 16th and presided over by President Lee Jae-myung, seven business leaders attended, including Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics, Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group, Chairman Chung Eui-sun of Hyundai Motor Group, Chairman Koo Kwang-mo of LG Group, Chairman Chung Ki-sun of HD Hyundai, Chairman Seo Jung-Jin of Celltrion, and Vice Chairman Yeo Seung-joo of Hanwha Group.
Looking back on the negotiation process between Korea and the United States, Lee said, "It was a very difficult process, but we achieved results that others did not expect. It seems we defended very well."
When Lee expressed concern that domestic investment could relatively shrink as corporations' investment in the United States increases going forward, the heads outlined each corporation's investment and hiring plans and signaled a strong willingness to cooperate.
Lee Jae-yong said, "Samsung will redouble efforts to expand investment, create jobs for young people, and pursue mutual growth with small and midsize companies and venture firms," adding, "As promised in Sep., we will hire 60,000 people a year in Korea over the next five years and move more aggressively with domestic facility investment, including in research and development (R&D)."
Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, said, "We originally planned domestic investment of 128 trillion won through 2028, but the expected investment expense is rising," adding, "Although an exact estimate is difficult, it appears that about 600 trillion won of investment will follow in Yongin (in the semiconductor cluster alone)."
He then promised, "We have steadily maintained hiring of more than 8,000 people annually, and we will make sure the employment effect amounts to 14,000 to 20,000 people each year."
Chung Eui-sun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, said, "We plan to push domestic investment of 25 trillion won annually over the next five years, for a total of 125 trillion won by 2030," adding, "This is an increase from what we planned last year."
Furthermore, the company will increase this year's hiring scale of 7,200 to 10,000 next year and also promised to expand exports by establishing a domestic factory dedicated to electric vehicles.
Koo Kwang-mo, chairman of LG Group, introduced plans for 100 trillion won in domestic investment over the next five years and said 60% of that will go into technology development for materials, parts, and equipment.
Yeo Seung-joo, vice chairman of Hanwha Group, signaled bold investment intentions in shipbuilding, saying, "First, we are planning to invest more than 7 trillion won in Philly Shipyard in the United States," and added, "In addition to investment in the United States, we will invest 11 trillion won over the next five years in Korea only in the shipbuilding and defense sectors."
Chung Ki-sun, chairman of HD Hyundai, said the company will make 15 trillion won in domestic investment over the next five years. He also presented details to invest 8 trillion won in the energy sector and artificial intelligence (AI) machine-robot business, and 7 trillion won in the shipbuilding and marine sectors.
Seo Jung-Jin, chairman of Celltrion, explained, "We are currently operating a 500 billion won fund with Start - Up companies, and we will expand it to 1 trillion won."