Industry ministry seeks US state backing for Korean investment

The industry ministry said its trade negotiation chief Yeo Han-koo met governors from 11 US states in Oklahoma City, seeking state-level support for South Korean investment and broader strategic cooperation.

Over three days at the association's July 30-Aug. 1 summer meeting, Yeo and the governors reviewed bilateral trade and investment and discussed future cooperation.

He highlighted cooperation involving South Korean companies in autos, batteries, energy, critical minerals and shipbuilding.

"State governments have a key role to play in South Korean companies' investment and operations in the United States if strategic cooperation between the two countries is to deliver tangible results," Yeo said. "Going forward, let us actively identify and pursue win-win cooperation projects from the bottom up at the state level."

The U.S. Energy Department on July 28 selected Tennessee, Oklahoma, Utah, Louisiana and Idaho from 26 applicant states as candidate sites for the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus, a program to establish a nuclear fuel-cycle hub. Yeo met governors from the first three states, and they agreed on the need for cooperation across the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium to spent-fuel treatment.

Yeo met former U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on July 31 to discuss Korea-U.S. trade issues and the economic relationship. They agreed on the importance of cooperation in shipbuilding and nuclear energy.

Yeo also joined a business roundtable in Oklahoma on July 30, meeting representatives of about 10 U.S. companies in aerospace, biotechnology, defense and finance. He discussed the status and plans for bilateral cooperation and said the government would actively support stronger private-sector economic cooperation.