Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will visit the United States from the 5th to the 9th (local time) to support bids by Korea's corporations for infrastructure projects. Kim will also attend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 to explore ways to apply artificial intelligence (AI) and information and communications technology (ICT) to the land and transport industry.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 4th it will dispatch a U.S. bid-support delegation led by Minister Kim as Director General.
The bid-support delegation, including Minister Kim, will attend on the 5th a ceremony for the "Indiana eco-friendly ammonia plant project," which is backed by policy finance from both Korea and the United States and will be built by Korea's corporations. The project captures and stores carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted during hydrogen production from fossil fuels (mainly natural gas) to reduce emissions, and produces and supplies low-carbon ammonia using that hydrogen. It is the first large-scale plant cooperation project between Korea and the United States.
The United States is a market where Korea's construction corporations have recently been expanding actively. In addition to building plants ordered by existing affiliates, orders for plant construction such as FLNG (an offshore plant that performs liquefaction (LNG), storage, and loading of natural gas at sea in one process) and solar power are increasing. The value of orders won in the U.S. market last year was $5.15 billion (cumulative as of November).
After the groundbreaking ceremony, Minister Kim will meet U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy James P. Danly to discuss expanding Korea-U.S. infrastructure cooperation and collaboration on policy finance. Kim will introduce Korea's corporations' strong infrastructure technology and support systems such as policy funds to the United States and plans to promote bid-support activities so that domestic corporations can expand their entry into the U.S. market.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) also plans to discuss financial cooperation between multilateral development banks (MDBs) and Korea's corporations through working-level talks with the World Bank (WB) during this U.S. trip.
On the 6th and 7th, Minister Kim will attend CES 2026, the world's largest international electronics trade show, held in Las Vegas, to review innovative technologies from global corporations and explore ways to strengthen competitiveness in advanced land and transport technologies.
Minister Kim will visit exhibition booths not only of Korea's corporations leading the world, such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, but also of top overseas corporations such as Amazon, Qualcomm, and Google Waymo, to review trends in core technologies including AI and ICT and Autonomous Driving, as well as corporations' strategies for future society.
Kim will also visit special exhibition halls such as the Korea Pavilion (KOTRA), the K-Startup Pavilion, and the Seoul Pavilion to review innovative technologies and achievements held by Korea's small and midsize corporations, startups, and universities, and discuss support measures.
On the 8th, Minister Kim will visit Stanford University, which hosts a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport research and development (R&D) demonstration site in San Francisco, to discuss ways to generate research and development outcomes through a roundtable with Korean students.
That afternoon, to review an operating strategy for the autonomous driving demonstration city set to begin in earnest this year, Kim will visit Google Waymo, a global leader in Autonomous Driving. There, Kim plans to share experiences with fully unmanned robotaxi operations and take a test ride to review the current status of autonomous driving technologies and services.
On the 9th, Minister Kim will visit San Francisco International Airport, where an Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS) is installed, to share technology updates with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and to inspect the EMAS installed at the end of the runway. EMAS is a facility that brakes aircraft by crushing and absorbing impact to prevent runway overruns and guide safe stops.
Minister Kim said, "With the dispatch of this U.S. bid-support delegation, we will strengthen a government-to-government (G2G) cooperation base so that our corporations can actively participate in various new construction projects in the United States and expand bidding opportunities," and added, "By visiting CES 2026, we will closely review ways to apply advanced land and transport technologies and related R&D, legal and institutional frameworks, and policy support measures based on global technology trends in AI and mobility."