Seoul [South Korea] : SK Group and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won visited the U.S. and Europe and had meetings with local political and business officials to speed up the ‘Global Story’ management. The ‘Global Story’ is one of management strategies that have been recently pushed by Chairman Chey. It is a strategy that SK should create a win-win business model to gain understanding from its global stakeholders. According to SK on the 2nd, Chairman Chey visited Washington DC from the 27th to the 1st of last month and met with officials from the government and companies, including Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (7th term in Kentucky), to discuss mutual interests. Chairman Chey met McConnell and James Clyburn form the House of Representatives on the 27th and 28th. At the meeting, Chairman Chey introduced SK’s strategies to respond to climate change and its vision for eco-friendly businesses, and shared opinions. McConnell is one of the important U.S. politicians who has been serving as a senator for 37 years and as a floor leader for 15 years. Clyburn is also a leading politician in Democratic Party. Chairman Chey said, “SK is actively responding to climate change by setting a carbon reduction target of 200 million tons, which is 1% of the world’s carbon reduction target (21 billion tons) as of 2030,” and that, “In particular, SK will invest about half of its investment of $52 billion, which will be invested in the U.S. by 2030, in eco-friendly businesses such as electric vehicle battery cells, hydrogen, and energy solutions to contribute to carbon reduction in the U.S.” Chairman Chey also explained that SK will be able to reduce carbon emission by 100 million tons, which is 5% of the U.S. government’s gas emission reduction target, by 2030 through its ‘Green Business’ strategy in the U.S. In addition, he had a meeting with Tennessee Republican member Marsha Blackburn and Senator Bill Hagerty. Chairman Chey said, “Following the Georgia plant, which has been under construction by SK on, SK will build a large-scale battery joint venture with Ford in Tennessee by 2027. When the factory is completed, it will create more than 11,000 quality jobs in three states.” SK on, subsidiary of SK Innovation’s battery division, and Ford recently signed a partnership to establish a joint venture called ‘Blue Oval SK’ and agreed to invest a total of $11.4 billion (about 13.3 trillion won) to construct two battery plants with a total capacity of 129GWh that can produce 2.15 million electric vehicles every year in Tennessee and Kentucky. SK on will invest $4.45 billion (about 5.2 trillion won). The U.S. politicians said, “We hope that SK’s battery business will contribute to stabilizing the supply chain of battery cells in the U.S. and lead the establishment of a battery ecosystem that can recycle waste batteries,” adding, “We will fully support SK to secure manpower through collaboration with local universities.” Chairman Chey also met with Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia Pacific region of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ami Bera and senior officials from White House, the State Department, and the Ministry of Defense to discuss future business investment, climate change countermeasures, and geopolitical issues. Chairman Chey said, “SK is planning to strengthen its bio business though SK Pharmteco, the CMO company located in the U.S.” In response, Chairman Bera said, “Companies of both countries will be able to create great synergy in future businesses such as bio and alternative foods.” Chairman Chey also attended a video conference with Ford CEO Jim Farley on the 1st. The two companies decided to make all-out efforts to smoothly build battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee, and also agreed to strengthen cooperation to establish a battery ecosystem. After completing his five-night U.S. business trip, Chairman Chey arrived in Hungary on the 1st (local time) to join President Moon Jae-in, who is visiting Europe as a state guest. Chairman Chey will have a meeting with the chairman of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and attend Korea-Visegrad Group (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia) Business Forum and a state dinner. In addition, Chairman Chey, as chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is planning to visit SK on’s battery plant in Komarom on the 2nd to check the current status of the local battery business and encourage local employees. SK is currently operating and constructing a total of three battery plants in Komarom (17.8GWh annual production capacity) and Ivancsa (30GWh annual production capacity), Hungary.
