Elon Musk reaffirms Korea among top candidates for Asia Gigafactory

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday that South Korea is still among its top candidates to build another Gigafactory, the US electric car maker’s vehicle, battery and component factory, in Asia. 

During a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Musk said Korea is an interesting investment destination, adding that he expects to have an opportunity to visit the country, according to a Yoon aide.

The two met at Musk’s request while President Yoon is in Washington for a six-day state visit, Choi Sang-mok, Yoon’s chief economic affairs secretary, said.

The meeting was held for about 40 minutes at Blair House in Washington.

During the meeting, Yoon touted Korea as an ideal country for Tesla to build a Gigafactory, citing the country’s cutting-edge industrial robots and high-skilled workers.

“Should Tesla decide to invest (in Korea), we will provide active support in terms of location, workforce and tax incentives,” the Korean president was quoted as saying.

‘KOREA FOR NEXT GIGAFACTORY’

The president also handed Musk a brochure, “Korea for the next Gigafactory,” especially prepared for the meeting, the aide said.

Last November, Yoon and Musk met online via a video conference call, in which the Tesla CEO named Korea among the top candidate sites for a new Gigafactory in Asia.

The US billionaire said at the time that he would make the final decision after reviewing investment conditions in other Asian countries, including labor quality, technology level and production infrastructure.

Tesla currently operates two EV manufacturing factories in the US – California and Texas – one in Berlin, Germany, and another in Shanghai, China.

Media reports said some other Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, are also lobbying to win Tesla’s next investment in EV production.

Tesla is already a big buyer of Korean-made auto parts for its autonomous driving and artificial intelligence products and plans to expand its supply chain with Korean companies.

He expects the total value of parts purchases from Korean businesses this year to exceed $10 billion, Seoul’s presidential office said.

Korea’s LG Energy Solution Ltd. is one of Tesla’s major battery suppliers.

COOPERATION WITH SPACEX

At Wednesday’s Blair House meeting, President Yoon also expressed his hope for improved business cooperation between SpaceX, the rocket and spacecraft manufacturer Musk founded, and Korean defense and aerospace companies.

"I hope that our cooperation with SpaceX will further expand to foster Korea's space industry," Yoon said. “Korean companies are ready to join Mr. Musk's new projects such as Starlink services and AI research."

SpaceX is seeking to join forces with Korean telecom operator KT Corp. to launch its low-earth orbit satellite communication service Starlink in Korea.

KT SAT, the Korean telecom giant’s satellite service operator, is in talks with SpaceX for a Starlink service by the end of the first half, industry sources said last month.

For its service in Korea, SpaceX in January applied for business registration with the Korean government.

On March 8, it established its Korean office, Starlink Korea LLC, with a view to offering services as early as the second quarter.

Write to Byung-Uk Do at dodo@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.