The Korea Herald

소아쌤

Six US firms unveil $1.9b investment to Korea

By Shin Ji-hye

Published : April 26, 2023 - 01:52

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President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the the Korea-US business roundtable at the the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Wednesday. (Yonhap) President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the the Korea-US business roundtable at the the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Wednesday. (Yonhap)

WASHINGTON -- President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is on a state visit to the United States, attended a ceremony Wednesday morning where six US high-tech companies announced a total of $1.9 billion in invesments, according to the presidential office.

The six companies are Air Products, Plug Power, On Semiconductor, Greene Tweed, PureCycle Technologies and EMP Belstar, related to high-tech industries such as clean hydrogen, semiconductors and carbon neutrality. They will build production facilities in South Korea in the future.

They are expected to play a major role in strengthening supply chain and high-tech cooperation between South Korea and the US as well as the eco-friendly transformation of energy and the industrial structure, the office said.

A day earlier, Netflix chief Ted Sarandos announced his company would invest $2.5 billion in Korean content for next four years during a meeting with President Yoon.

President Yoon met Sarandos as his first official engagement in the US. The meeting was accompanied by the ministers of finance, culture and industry, as the Netflix management team, according to the presidential office.

“The investment will be a significant opportunity for all Korean content businesses and creators, as well as for Netflix,” Yoon said during a joint press briefing that followed their meeting.

He said he “sincerely welcomed the unprecedented investment” made by Netflix.

The $2.5 billion investment plan by Netflix is double the amount the company has invested in Korea since it first entered the Korean market in 2016.

“We were able to make this decision because of our great confidence in the Korean content industry. And we'll continue to make great stories,” Sarandos said in response. “We also were inspired by the president's love and strong support for Korean entertainment industry.”