The Peninsula

What Happened: Q3 2024

As the United States and South Korea move forward in advancing joint technological and industrial development, Q3 2024 witnessed a number of pivotal partnerships and deals across a wide range of industries as well as a plethora of high-level dialogues. The following is a timeline of major US-Korea partnerships and deals along with significant meetings and diplomatic milestones from Q3 2024.

Major US-Korea Investment Deals and Partnerships:

Date	US Entity	Korean Entity	Project	Location
September 28	Microsoft	KT	Five-year strategic partnership to co-develop AI models and cloud services.	Redmond, Washington
September 17	American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)	HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE)	MOU for the development and certification of cooperation on advanced zero-carbon ships.	N/A
September 12	General Motors	Hyundai Motor Company	MOU to explore collaboration on vehicles, supply chain, and clean-energy technologies.	N/A
September 11	Atlantic Council	Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power	Three-year agreement on US-Korea nuclear cooperation.	Washington, District of Columbia
September 10	N/A	Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power	Opening of KHNP’s North America Business Center in Washington, DC.	Washington, District of Columbia
September 9	Centrus Energy Corp.	Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power	Term sheet to partner on nuclear fuel supply.	Washington, District of Columbia
September 9	Burns & McDonnell	KEPCO	Agreement for the joint promotion of a 765 kV transmission network project in the United States.	United States
September 9	NYU	KAIST	MOU to collaborate on a joint degree program on AI.	Seoul, Korea
September 5	N/A	HD Hyundai Construction Equipment	Opening of the HD Hyundai North America Customization Plant.	Brunswick, Georgia
August 28	General Motors	Samsung SDI	Agreement to build a $3.5 billion joint venture EV battery manufacturing plant.	New Carlisle, Indiana
August 27	Qualcomm	Samsung Electronics	Qualification of Samsung’s LPDDR4X memory system to be used with Qualcomm equipment for in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).	N/A
August 26	Woods Capital	Mastern America	MOU to develop high-tech industrial complex in the United States.	United States
August 21	Lambda	SK Telecom	Partnership for AI Cloud Joint Business and GPU deployment at SK’s Seoul Gasan Data Center.	Seoul, Korea
August 19	US Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)	Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power	Joint research agreement on preventative maintenance for reactor pressure vessels.	N/A
August 8	US Department of Energy	Hanwha Qcells	Conditional commitment by the DOE for a loan guarantee up to $1.45 billion to Qcells to support a solar cell supply chain facility.	Cartersville, Georgia
August 7	SpaceX	Korea AeroSpace Administration	Launch Service Contract to launch the Cheollian 3 satellite from Florida in 2027.	Florida
August 6	US Department of Commerce	SK Hynix	Non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) for the Commerce Department to provide $450 million in CHIPS Act incentives to SK Hynix to develop a High-bandwidth memory (HBM) advanced packaging fabrication and R&D facility.	West Lafeyette, Indiana
July 22	US Naval Supply Systems Command	Hanwha Ocean	Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) for Hanwha Ocean to participate in the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of US Naval vessels.	N/A
July 12	US Naval Supply Systems Command	HD Hyundai Heavy Industries	Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) securing HD Hyundai’s qualification to participate in the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of US Naval vessels.	N/A
July 11	Flagship Pioneering	Samsung C&T Corporation; Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis	$52 million investment by Samsung to Flagship Pioneering’s VIII fund to develop bioplatform companies and AI tools.	N/A
July 10	N/A	LS Cable & System	Announcement of an $681 million investment by LS Cable & System to build the largest submarine cable plant in the United States.	Chesapeake, Virginia
July 9	Tennessee Titans	LG Electronics	Partnership renewal to continue providing support to local businesses.	Nashville, Tennessee
July 9	Texas Enterprise Fund	SeAH Group	Establishment of a $110 million superalloy manufacturing facility by SeAH Group in Texas, with Texas Enterprise Fund contributing $910,000.	Temple, Texas
July 2	LS Power Grid California	LS Cable & System	$72 million order for LS Cable and System to supply undersea power grid cable.	Oregon, California

Trade and Diplomacy Dialogues

September 27 – Governor of Utah Spencer Cox leads a trade delegation to Seoul and meets with Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Ahn Duk-geun, where they discuss economic cooperation in aerospace, healthcare, financial services, semiconductors, nuclear energy, and clean hydrogen.

September 27 – Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok meets with representatives from US-based Standard and Poor’s in Seoul to discuss Korea’s financial sector policies, including its corporate value-up program and foreign exchange market reforms.

September 25-27 – The United States and Korea hold their eighth round of Special Measures Agreement (SMA) negotiations in Seoul, led by Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Security Agreements and Foreign Policy Advisors Linda Specht and Representative for Defense Burden Sharing Lee Taewoo.

September 25 – Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul attends the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and brings up shared priorities regarding the UN Security Council, sustainable development goals, multilateral trading systems, and artificial intelligence.

September 24 – Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong attends the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) virtual minister’s meeting, where the implementation of the forthcoming IPEF agreements on clean economy and fair economy were discussed.

September 23 – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Korea’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho, and Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa hold trilateral discussions on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, where progress toward a Trilateral Secretariat was reaffirmed.

September 13 – Minister of National Defense Kim Yong Hyun holds his first telephone conversation with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to discuss aspects of the US-Korea alliance.

September 10-12 – Trade Minister Cheong visits the United States, where he attends the US-Korea Economic Security Conference and holds separate meetings with Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, Representative Young Kim (R-CA), and President of the Eurasia Group Ian Bremmer to discuss US-Korea trade and economic policies. As part of his trip, he also visits Google’s New York headquarters to discuss US-Korea cooperation in AI.

September 9-10 – Korea co-hosts the Summit on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (REAIM Summit) in Seoul along with the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya, and the United Kingdom.

September 3-4 – Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), Korea Development Institute (KDI), and Bank of Korea host the 2024 G20 Global Economy and Financial Stability Conference in Seoul. Session topics included economic policy, global supply chains, global financial stability, digital finance, and AI.

September 3 – The second Trilateral Executive Dialogue (TED), sponsored by Hyundai Motor Group, is held in Seoul and attended by US Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Gary Peters (D-MI), Katie Britt (R-AL), and John Thune (R-SD), alongside other representatives from US industries and think tanks.

August 27-29 – The United States and Korea hold their seventh round of SMA negotiations.

August 26 – Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) visits Korea and meets with President Yoon Suk Yeol to discuss the US-Korea alliance, extended deterrence, and trilateral cooperation with Japan. He also meets with Hanwha Ocean CEO Kwon Hyek-woong and Ambassador Philip Goldberg, where they discuss US-Korea cooperation on naval shipbuilding.

August 7-8 – US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Ahn attend the US-ROK Energy Ministerial Meeting in Washington, DC, where commitments on reducing carbon emissions in the energy sector and achieving energy security were discussed.

August 7 – US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink, Korea’s Vice Minister for Strategy and Intelligence Cho Koo-rae, and Japan’s Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Hiroyuki Namazu hold a trilateral telephone discussion on North Korean nuclear developments.

July 31 – US Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth meets with Korea’s Vice Minister of National Defense Kim Seon Ho, where they discuss North Korea-Russia military cooperation and joint efforts on military, logistics and advanced science, and technology exchange.

July 30 – British-American AI expert Andrew Ng meets with President Yoon in Korea, where he stated plans to create an AI Fund for Korea to foster startups and was invited to join Korea’s National AI Committee Global Advisory Group.

July 30 – IPEF member countries establish supply chain bodies, including the Supply Chain Council, Crisis Response Network, and Labor Rights Advisory Board, and conclude their inaugural virtual meetings. Korea is elected as Chair of the Crisis Response Network, with Japan as Vice Chair.

July 25-26 – Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok attends the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He introduces Korea’s “Dynamic Economy Roadmap” and has a sideline meeting with World Bank President Ajay Banga.

July 22 – Korea’s Director-General for Korean Peninsula Policy Lee Jun-il visits Washington, DC, and meets with US Deputy Special Representative for North Korea Seth Bailey to discuss recent developments in North Korea.

July 16 – Korea’s Deputy Minister for FTA Negotiations Roh Keon-ki attends the G7 Trade Ministerial in Calabria, Italy, where attendees discussed multilateral cooperation on international supply chains, including through IPEF and the Minerals Security Partnership.     

July 15 – Ambassador Goldberg and US Consul General in Busan Nolan Barkhouse tour HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Ulsan.

July 15 – As part of his trip to Asia, Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear signs a driver’s license reciprocity agreement with Korea in Seoul.

July 11 – At the US Department of Defense, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Vipin Narang and Korea’s Deputy Defense Minister of Policy Cho Chang-rae jointly sign the “Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula” for the US-Korea Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG).

July 7 – Governor of Texas Greg Abbott visits Seoul as part of a ten-day trip to Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. In meetings with Samsung, LG, and other Korean companies, Governor Abbott gains commitments on business partnerships and investments for Texas.

July 1 – Korea assumes one-year chairmanship of the 14-country Minerals Security Partnership.

 

Tom Ramage is an Economic Policy Analyst at the Korea Economic Institute of America. The views expressed here are the author’s alone.

Photo from Shutterstock.

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