KOREAN NET

President Yoon Suk Yeol (center) on the morning of April 25 speaks at the Korea-U.S. Business Roundtable at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, on a state visit to the U.S. to mark the 70th anniversary of the bilateral alliance, has spoken to business leaders from Korea and America on cooperation in cutting-edge technology sectors, supply chains and core technologies.

On the morning of April 25, he attended in Washington the Korea-U.S. Business Roundtable hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce along with executives from major companies of both countries.

Korean attendees included leaders from the conglomerates Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG and Lotte. The U.S. side had figures like Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, IBM Vice Chairman Gary Cohn, Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith, and Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun.

"The Korea-U.S. alliance, which marks its 70th anniversary this year, is an alliance of values that shares universal values like liberal democracy and market economy," President Yoon said in a statement. "From the military and national security to supply chains and cutting-edge science and technology, the alliance is evolving into a 'global comprehensive strategic alliance.'"

He also proposed that both countries build a stronger and future-oriented partnership based on their bilateral free trade agreement.

Mentioning recent investment growth between the two countries, President Yoon said, "As the U.S. is a global power in core and original technologies and Korea has world-class capacity in cutting-edge manufacturing, I expect cooperation among companies that produces a great synergy effect."

On the hour-long roundtable, the Office of the President in Seoul said the event offered the opportunity to show the competitiveness of Korea's high-tech manufacturing such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, bio and the defense industry, as well as reaffirm the high-tech alliance as a partnership in cooperation in resilient supply chains and economic security.

President Yoon Suk Yeol on the morning of April 25 speaks at an investment declaration ceremony during the Korea-U.S. Business Roundtable at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

Ahead of the roundtable, President Yoon attracted investment worth USD 1.9 billion from six cutting-edge American companies.

The six include Air Products, On Semiconductor and PureCycle Technologies, the presidential office said. These companies will build plants in Korea for cutting-edge sectors such as clean hydrogen, semiconductors and carbon neutrality and contribute to eco-friendly transformation of the domestic energy and industrial structures.

President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee on the morning of April 25 salute the national flag while visiting Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington.

Earlier that day, President Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee visited Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, as the first event on his schedule.

He laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and presented a plaque honoring Korean War veterans at the monument's exhibition hall with the inscription "We will never forget, forgotten no more," the flags of both countries and a logo marking the bilateral alliance's 70th anniversary.

"I am deeply moved to stand at Arlington National Cemetery, where 220,000 American soldiers who devoted themselves to freedom and peace have been buried since 1864," the president said. "On behalf of the people of the Republic of Korea, I pay my respects to the American soldiers who devoted their lives to freedom and peace."


Photos = Office of the President

By Park Hye Ri
hrhr@korea.kr