Chey Tae-won visits U.S. and says S. Korea has invested 230 trillion won in U.S., emphasizing partnership

A private economic delegation of 26 members, including Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), visited the U.S. on Wednesday through Thursday (local time) and met with White House officials.

According to KCCI on Friday, Chairman Chey met with senior White House officials on the first day of the delegation's activities in the U.S. and said, "South Korea has invested over 160 billion dollars in the U.S. over the past eight years, and South Korean companies have created more than 800,000 jobs in the U.S." The delegation highlighted the necessity of strategic cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. in six key sectors: shipbuilding, energy, nuclear power, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, mobility, and materials and components. "We have met economic delegations from more than 20 countries recently, but our discussions with the South Korean private delegation have been the most productive," White House officials reportedly responded positively.

On Tuesday, about 250 people attended the "Korea-U.S. Business Night" dinner at the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C. "The bilateral relationship, which has evolved beyond security cooperation into an economic alliance over the past century, must now advance into a partnership leading to cutting-edge technology and future value," Chairman Chey said. "The U.S.-South Korea relationship is an alliance that shares values and cannot be explained merely in terms of trade and investment transactions," Matt Murray, the U.S. senior official for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), said.


한재희기자 hee@donga.com