| President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during an investment signing ceremony at U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington D.C., Tuesday (local time). Yonhap |
By Nam Hyun-woo
WASHINGTON D.C. ― Seven U.S. companies will make a combined investment of $4.4 billion in Korea, with Netflix alone slated to invest $2.5 billion to create Korean cultural content over the next four years.
This was announced during President Yoon Suk Yeol's meeting with the CEOs of the companies during his state visit to the U.S. Yoon attended an investment signing ceremony with six American companies specializing in hydrogen, semiconductor and environmental technology, Tuesday (local time), and met Netflix's CEO on Monday.
During the ceremony, the six companies pledged to make investments totaling $1.9 billion and establish manufacturing facilities related to clean hydrogen, semiconductors and carbon neutrality in Korea. The six are hydrogen companies Air Products and Plug Power, chipmaker On Semiconductor, thermoplastics manufacturer Greene Tweed and eco-friendly technology companies PureCycle Technologies and EMP Belstar.
| President Yoon Suk Yeol shows a video clip of him throwing the ceremonial pitch at a baseball game to Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos during their meeting at Blair House, Washington, D.C., Monday (local time). Yonhap |
Yoon expressed his gratitude to each of the companies' CEOs and underscored the Korean government's commitment to seek investments from advanced industries.
The Korean presidential office said the investments are expected to strengthen the supply chain and advanced technology partnership between Korea and the U.S. and will play a significant role in Korea's transition to an environmentally-friendly energy and industrial structure.
A day earlier, Yoon announced that Netflix will invest $2.5 billion in Korean dramas, movies and reality shows over the next four years.
"I just had a very meaningful time with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos and other leaders of the company who said Netflix will invest $2.5 billion, or 3.3 trillion won, in K-content," Yoon said during the meeting at Blair House.
"The investment will become a huge opportunity not only for the content industry and program creators, but also for Netflix. I sincerely welcome Netflix's bold investment decision," he added.
Sarandos said the amount is double what the over-the-top platform company has already invested in the Korean market since it started doing business there in 2016, while the amount will be used to work with creators of Korean series, films and scripted shows.
"We were able to make this decision because of our great confidence in the Korean content industry and we'll continue to make great stories," Sarandos said.
"I have no doubt that our investment will strengthen our long-term partnership with Korea and Korea's greatest creative ecosystem. We are deepening our partnership with the Korean creative industry, which has produced amazing hits such as 'Squid Game,' 'The Glory,' 'Physical 100.' With the partnership, we will continue to grow the global industry, while sharing the joy of entertainment with Korean storytellers and their fans around the world."
A presidential secretary said the investment will cover not only new content creation for Netflix, but also to purchase licenses for Korean content that has already been made.
Along with the investment, Yoon attended a roundtable with the leaders of Korean and U.S. businesses, including Qualcomm, IBM, Microsoft, Google, GE, GM, Tesla, Boeing and Moderna. From Korea, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and the heads of other conglomerates attended.
During the roundtable, Yoon said companies in the two countries are expanding investments in each other, while huge synergy is expected between the U.S., which owns advanced technologies, and Korea, which is a manufacturing powerhouse.