SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Joe Biden addressed security and business interests Sunday as he wrapped up a three-day visit to South Korea, signaling Hyundai’s commitment to investing at least $10 billion in electric vehicles and related technologies in the United States. state
He also said he was not worried about any possible provocation from North Korea as he tours the region.
“We are prepared for anything North Korea does,” Biden said before visiting US and South Korean troops serving together on the peninsula.
Asked if he had a message for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Biden offered a brief response.
“Hello,” he said. “Period.”
It was another radical departure from his predecessor, President Donald Trump, who once said he “fell in love” with Kim.
Before leaving South Korea and heading to Japan, Biden appeared with Hyundai CEO Eusiun Chung to highlight the company’s expanded investment in the United States, including $5.5 billion for a battery and electric vehicle factory in Georgia.
“Electric vehicles are good for our climate goals, but they’re also good for jobs,” Biden said. “And they are good for business.”
Chung also said his company would spend another $5 billion on artificial intelligence for autonomous vehicles and other technologies.
The large US investment by a South Korean company was a reflection of how the countries are leveraging their longstanding military ties into a broader economic partnership.
Earlier in his trip, Biden visited a computer chip plant run by Samsung, the Korean electronics giant that plans to build a $17 billion production plant in Texas.
Biden has made increased economic cooperation with South Korea a priority, saying Saturday that it will “bring our two countries even closer, cooperating even more than we already do, and help strengthen our supply chains, protect against impacts and give our economies a competitive advantage.”
The pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February have forced a deeper rethink of national security and economic alliances. The coronavirus outbreaks have led to shortages of computer chips, cars and other goods that the Biden administration says can ultimately be fixed by having more manufacturing domestically and with trusted allies.
Hyundai’s factory in Georgia is expected to employ 8,100 workers and produce up to 300,000 vehicles a year, with plans for construction to begin early next year and production to begin in 2025 near the unincorporated city of Ellabell.
But the Hyundai plant shows there are also trade-offs as Biden pursues his economic agenda.
The president early in his term attempted to link electric vehicle production to automakers with unionized workers. As part of a $1.85 trillion spending proposal that stalled in the Senate, Biden wanted additional tax credits for buyers of electric vehicles made by unionized factories. That would have provided a boost to the unionized auto plant owned by General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV at a vital time when union membership across the country has steadily declined.
During the visit to Samsung, Biden called on Korean companies building plants in the US to hire unionized workers. In addition to its upcoming plant in Texas, Samsung has an agreement with Stellantis to build an electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in the US.
“I urge Samsung and Stellantis and any company that invests in the United States to partner with our most skilled, dedicated and committed workers you can find anywhere in the world: American union members,” he said.
So far there has been no guarantee that workers at the Hyundai Georgia plant will unionise.
Georgia is a “right to work” state, which means workers cannot be required to join a union or make payments to a union as a condition of employment.
A Hyundai spokesman did not respond to an email asking if the Georgia plant would be unionized. A senior Biden administration official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said there was no contradiction between Biden encouraging investors to adopt unionized workers while his administration does “everything it can” to encourage investment. and create jobs in the US.
Before Sunday’s announcement with Hyundai, Biden attended Mass at his hotel in Seoul along with some White House staff. Biden will also meet with service members and military families at Osan Air Base and address US and Korean troops. Biden and Korean President Yoon Sook Yeol announced Saturday that they will consider expanded joint military exercises. to deter the nuclear threat posed by North Korea.
The push toward deterrence by Biden and Yoon, less than two weeks into their presidency, marks a change by the leaders from their predecessors. Trump had considered scrapping the exercises and expressed his affection for North Korea’s Kim. And South Korea’s last president, Moon Jae-in, remained committed to dialogue with Kim until the end of his term despite being repeatedly rebuffed by the North.
Biden decided to skip a visit to the demilitarized zone on the north-south border, a regular stop for US presidents when they visit Seoul. Instead, Biden, who had visited the DMZ as vice president, was more interested in visiting Osan to see a “where the rubber hits the road” facility for US and South Korean troops maintaining security on the peninsula, the security adviser said. White House national Jake. Sullivan.
Yoon campaigned on a promise to strengthen the relationship between the United States and South Korea. She reiterated at a dinner Saturday honoring Biden that her goal was to take the relationship “beyond security” with North Korea, which has long dominated the relationship.
“I will try to design a new future vision of our alliances with you, Mr. President,” Yoon said.
Biden heads to Tokyo later on Sunday. On Monday he will meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and outline his vision for negotiating a new trade deal called the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.
A central theme of the trip, Biden’s first to Asia as president, is bolstering US alliances in the Pacific to counter China’s influence in the region.
But within the Biden administration, there is an ongoing debate over whether to lift some of the $360 billion in Trump-era tariffs on China. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently said that some of the tariffs are doing more harm to US businesses and consumers than to China.
On Tuesday, Japan will host Biden at a summit of the Quad, a four-nation strategic alliance that also includes Australia and India. The US president will then return to Washington.
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Associated Press writers Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
Reference-apnews.com