Search All Site Content
Total Index: 6759 publications.
Subscribe to our Mailing List!
Sign up for our mailing list to keep up to date on all the latest developments.
The Peninsula
U.S.-Korea Investment Ledger: Q2 2025
U.S. and South Korean companies continued to plow ahead and forge partnerships across several domains in Q2 despite uncertainty surrounding bilateral trade relations and policy. Bolstered by partnerships in technology, shipbuilding, clean energy, and artificial intelligence, new projects include Korean firms constructing U.S. containerships as well as unmanned surface vehicle (USV) development, providing greater support to the emerging U.S.-Korea shipbuilding relationship.
Progress in AI—such as agreements between companies to work together on robotic sensing systems, traffic management infrastructure, and humanoid robots—was anchored by the creation of an OpenAI office in Seoul and a commitment by Amazon Web Services to build a data center in a special AI hub in the city of Ulsan. Accordingly, other major deals reflect the growing integration between the United States and Korea in industrial development and supply chains, highlighting commitments to economic security by both countries.
A list of major Q2 deals, investments, and partnerships is listed below:
Major Deals, Investments, and Partnerships
| Date | U.S. Entity | Korean Entity | Project | Location |
| June 30 | Green River Lithium Project | POSCO Holdings | MOU with Australian Anson Resources for a Direct Lithium Extration (DLE) demonstration project. | Green River City, Utah |
| June 24 | Aircraft engine MRO facility | Hanwha Aviation | Acquisition of an aircraft MRO facility in the United States by Hanwha Aviation. | United States |
| June 20 | Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) | HD Hyundai | Partnership to build containerships in the United States. | United States |
| June 20 | Amazon Web Services | SK Group | Partnership to build data center in Ulsan, establishment of an “AI Zone.” | Ulsan, South Korea |
| June 19 | N/A | LG Energy Solution | Joint venture with Toyota Tsusho Corporation to create Green Metals Battery Innovations LLC for battery recycling. | Winstom-Salem, North Carolina |
| June 17 | Blueoval SK (Ford JV) | FSK L&S | 6 year contract for the operation of Blueoval SK fulfillment center. | Bullitt County, Kentucky |
| June 17 | Skild AI | LG CNS | Strategic partnership to develop humanoid robots. | N/A |
| June 13 | Samsung Electronics | AMD | Announcement by AMD that its MI350 Series accelerators are powered by Samsung HBM chips. | N/A |
| June 12 | Kessler Collection | Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority (IFEZ) | Letter of Intent (LOI) by Kessler Collection to join Incheon’s K-Con Land project. | Cheongna International City; Incheon, South Korea |
| May 28 | Honeywell Industrial Automation | GS Engineering & Construction | MOU for joint technology development. | N/A |
| May 26 | OpenAI | N/A | Announcement by OpenAI to establish subsidiary office in Seoul. | Seoul, South Korea |
| May 21 | CSC Serviceworks | LG Electronics | Distribution agreement for LG to supply commercial washers and dryers. | United States; Canada |
| May 15 | Saturn Satellite Networks | InnoSpace | MOU for joint development of satellites. | N/A |
| May 12 | Boston Dynamics | LG Innotek | Agreement to develop robotic sensing systems. | N/A |
| May 9 | Artemis II NASA Program | Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, KT SAT, Nara Space, KASI | MOU between Korean companies and KASI for the development of secondary payload for Artemis II Cubesat mount. | N/A |
| April 28 | N/A | Samsung Biologics | $513 million manufacturing contract for undisclosed U.S. pharmaceutical company. | United States |
| April 25 | Slate | SK On | Selection of SK On as battery supplier for U.S. EV startup Slate. | |
| April 21 | N/A | POSCO Group; Hyundai Motor Group | MOU for POSCO Group to join Hyundai’s $5.8 billion steel mill investment in Louisiana. | Donaldsonville, Louisiana |
| April 17 | City of Hogansville, Georgia; New York City Economic Development Corporation | LG CNS | Agreement to install AI integrated traffic smart poles in Hogansville; Deployment of Cityhub platform in New York City | Hogansville, Georgia; New York, New York |
| April 16 | University of Missouri | Hyundai Engineering America, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), Hyundai Engineering Company | $10 million agreement to build NextGen MURR research reactor. | Columbia, Missouri |
| April 11 | N/A | LG Electronics | LG Electronics Tennessee Phase 2 Project: $100 million capital investment to expand operations in Clarksville. | Clarksville, Tennessee |
| April 7 | Hunting Ingalls Industries (HII) | HD Hyundai Heavy Industries | MOU to explore opportunities to collaborate on ship production. | N/A |
| April 4 | Anduril | HD Hyundai Heavy Industries | MOU to cooperate on USV development. | N/A |
| April 2 | General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) | Hanwha Aerospace | Agreement to co-develop and manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). | N/A |
| April 1 | General Motors | LG Energy Solution | LG acquiring GM’s stake in LGES-GM battery joint venture. | Lansing, Michigan |
Tom Ramage is Economic Policy Analyst at the Korea Economic Institute of America. The views expressed here are the author’s alone.
Photo from Shutterstock.
KEI is registered under the FARA as an agent of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, a public corporation established by the government of the Republic of Korea. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.