Boeing Korea president Eric John said Thursday he would invest more in aerospace research and development projects in Korea to forge closer ties with Korean companies.

“Just in the last four years, the amount we spend per year on R&D in Korea has doubled,” John told reporters in Seoul. 

“This year, it’ll be almost $2 million. In 2012, it was about $1 million. So it‘s still small, but I want to make it much bigger,” he said, adding that such moves would create a mutual beneficial relationship between Korean firms and Boeing.

In particular, the executive said he was interested in the areas of material research and electronics. 

“It has applicability in other sectors as well, which really helps Korea,” he said. 

“If you look at materials, for example, materials used in aerospace might have applicability in tens of thousands of units. But you could use those materials in millions of units in automobiles.”

Last year, Boeing spent roughly $500 million in Korea, spread among 35 Korean companies. Korea is one of the 10 largest international markets for Boeing’s commercial and defense business units. 

Eric John was named president of Boeing Korea in May 2014.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)