José Muñoz, Hyundai Motor president, again emphasized investment plans for the U.S. state of Georgia, where the detention of about 300 Koreans occurred.
In an interview published on the 15th (local time) with the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Muñoz said he would invest $26 billion (about 38 trillion won) in the United States over four years, adding, "The investment policy remains unchanged."
Muñoz said, "We will maximize the productivity of the Georgia plant through various means such as robotic automation and artificial intelligence (AI)," adding, "We will localize automobile production and the logistics supply chain to reduce expense and increase competitiveness."
Muñoz said, "We will continue hiring until we reach maximum production, creating 40,000 direct and indirect jobs in Georgia." On tariffs, he said, "Localization is a simple solution," adding, "We have discussed this solution for some time, and we are implementing it now."
In September, U.S. immigration authorities arrested about 300 Korean workers at the construction site of the Hyundai Motor Group–LG Energy Solution battery joint-venture plant in Georgia. The detained workers were released following South Korea–U.S. diplomatic talks. Local media reported that factors such as insufficient local hiring may have provided grounds for the crackdown.