Korea Inc pledges $150 bn US investment; KAL buys new planes, Samsung, Hyundai Motor vow extra spending

WASHINGTON, D.C. – South Korea’s biggest conglomerates have committed $150 billion in fresh investment in the US, in a sweeping package that spans semiconductors, shipbuilding, batteries and strategic minerals, further cementing Seoul’s efforts to anchor a new industrial and technology alliance with Washington.

The announcement was made on Monday at a White House business roundtable following a bilateral summit between Korean President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump.

A delegation of 16 top Korean business leaders, including the Big Four – Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Co. Chairman Chung Euisun and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo – participated in the round table.

Other major Korean participants are HD Hyundai Co. Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun; Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae; Doosan Enerbility Co. Chairman Park Gee-won; Celltrion Inc. Chairman Seo Jung-jin; CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun; GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo; LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-eun; Korea Zinc Inc. Chairman Choi Yun-birm; Naver Corp. CEO Choi Soo-yeon; and Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) Chairman Ryu Jin.

They were met by an equally heavyweight US roster, with Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Jensen Huang, Carlyle Group Co-Chairman David Rubenstein, Stephanie Pope from Boeing and Sameer Samat from Google, and senior executives from Lockheed Martin and General Motors among 21 US executives at the table.

Korean President Lee, in a keynote speech, invoked the US Navy’s role in the Korean War 75 years ago as a model for the latest Seoul-Washington cooperation.

He vowed to pursue a “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA)” project, saying that Korea’s shipyards will partner with US companies to rebuild its maritime capacity.

SAMSUNG, HYUNDAI MOTOR, LG VOW EXTRA INVESTMENTS

The investment pledges cover several advanced industries, including semiconductors, AI and biotech, as well as strategic sectors such as shipbuilding, nuclear power and defense.

Delegates also focused on strengthening automotive and battery supply chains and securing critical minerals, moves that align with Trump’s drive to onshore production in key industries.

Samsung Chairman Lee and SK’s Chey intensively discussed semiconductor and AI cooperation with Nvidia CEO Hwang.

Their talks were focused on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, key components in the AI ​​semiconductor industry, sources said.

Samsung, the world’s top memory chipmaker, committed to expanding its $37 billion semiconductor foundry in Taylor, Texas, with additional capacity and deeper collaboration with US chipmakers.

SK Hynix Inc. confirmed its already announced $3.87 billion project in Indiana to build a next-generation chip packaging plant for HBM chips, while LG pledged further investment in batteries and home appliances.

Hyundai Motor added $5 billion to a previously announced $21 billion plan, lifting its total US commitment to $26 billion.

Hyundai’s projects include a steel plant in Louisiana producing low-carbon plate for cars, expanded EV and hybrid production capacity, and a robotics hub.

“This establishes a full value chain in the US, from steel to finished vehicles,” the company said.

KOREAN AIR UNVEILS SINGLE LARGEST DEAL

Korean Air Lines Co., led by Hanjin Group Chairman Cho, unveiled the largest single deal of the summit: a 70 trillion won ($50 billion) package with Boeing and GE Aerospace.

The deal covers 103 next-generation Boeing aircraft worth $36.2 billion, with deliveries running through 2030, and 19 spare engines and a 20-year maintenance contract with GE worth $13.69 billion.

Korean Air is also collaborating with other US aviation companies, including Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, Hamilton Sundstrand and Honeywell.

“As Korea’s flag carrier, we will contribute to strengthening the friendly relationship between our two countries through continued investment in the US,” said a Korean Air official.

EYE-CATCHING COMMITMENTS IN NUCLEAR POWER, SMR PROJECTS

Korean industrial heavyweights sealed a series of agreements with US partners ranging from nuclear energy to shipbuilding and critical minerals.

Seoul’s trade ministry said the Korean delegation inked a total of 11 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) across five sectors – nuclear, shipbuilding, aerospace, LNG and critical minerals.

The most eye-catching commitments came in nuclear power, with four agreements that analysts said mark Seoul’s full-scale entry into the global small modular reactor (SMR) and nuclear fuel markets.

Korea’s state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) and Doosan Enerbility joined forces with US startup X-energy and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to cooperate across the SMR lifecycle, from design and construction to operations and supply chains.

Amazon, which is seeking new clean energy sources to power its data centers, plans to deploy more than 60 units of X-energy’s next-generation “Xe-100” reactors in the US by 2039, with a combined capacity exceeding 5 GW.

KHNP officials said the deal provides a springboard to enter the US SMR market.

Doosan also struck an agreement with Texas-based developer Fermi America to supply equipment for its “AI Campus Project”, billed as the US’ largest integrated energy infrastructure plan.

The multi-billion-dollar complex envisages 11 GW of capacity from four full-scale reactors, SMRs, gas-fired units and solar power facilities.

KHNP and Samsung C&T Corp. will join the construction of the project, underscoring Korean businesses’ growing role in US’ energy build-out.

Separately, KHNP and US nuclear fuel supplier Centrus Energy Corp. signed an MOU covering joint investment in enrichment facilities and long-term supply of enriched uranium, including high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), vital for advanced reactors.

POSCO International Corp. will invest in the KHNP-Centrus project to secure HALEU.

SHIPBUILDING, MRO

In shipbuilding, HD Hyundai and state-run Korea Development Bank agreed with US private equity group Cerberus Capital Management to establish a multibillion-dollar fund for investment in US maritime projects.

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. signed with Oregon-based Vigor Marine Group to modernize US Navy support facilities, share maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services and codevelop vessels.

An MRO specialist, Vigor Marine operates eight docks across five US shipyards.

In energy and resources, Korea Gas Corp. concluded a 10-year contract with Trafigura and other US LNG suppliers to import 3.3 million tons of natural gas annually from 2028.

Korea Zinc signed an MOU to supply germanium to Lockheed Martin under a long-term contract, starting from 2028 when the Korean smelter launches commercial production of the critical metal.

Seoul officials hailed the deal as the “first success story in Korea-US cooperation on critical minerals”.

Meanwhile, LS Group committed $3 billion to expand subsea cable and power equipment manufacturing in the US.

“The synergies are clear. US technological leadership paired with Korean manufacturing competitiveness,” said a Seoul-based industry executive. “What we are seeing is the foundation of a Korea–US economic-security alliance that goes far beyond semiconductors.”

Write to Sang-eun Lucia Lee, Jeong-Soo Hwang and Jung-Eun Shin at selee@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.