By Park Hye Ri
Photos = Office of the President

President Yoon Suk Yeol on April 26 asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a meeting to choose Korea as the investment site for a gigafactory for manufacturing finished electric vehicles in Asia.

Senior Presidential Secretary for Economic Affairs Choi Sang-mok told a briefing that day at a press center in Washington, "This occurred abruptly as CEO Musk requested a meeting with President Yoon during the latter's visit (to the U.S.)"

"Korea has top-notch manufacturing robots and a highly skilled labor force," President Yoon told Musk. "Korea is a country offering the highest efficiency in running a Tesla gigafactory."

The president also pledged his government's active support for location, human resources and taxation if Tesla invests in Korea, giving Musk a specially made brochure on attracting a gigafactory to the nation with this content.

The CEO responded by calling Korea an extremely interesting place for gigafactory investment and one of the top candidate countries, adding that he could make a visit.

President Yoon also mentioned SpaceX, the space company led by Musk.

Secretary Choi quoted the president as saying, "We hope for further expansion of cooperation with SpaceX to develop Korea's space industry," adding, "We hope that Korean companies join us on the path of new innovation and challenge like Starlink services and generative artificial intelligence.

hrhr@korea.kr