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President Lee Jae-myung and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Eui-sun converse during an investment agreement ceremony for the Saemangeum Robot, Hydrogen, and AI City, held at the Saemangeum Convention Center in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, in February. / Yonhap News

President Lee Jae-myung reportedly held a closed-door meeting recently with Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Eui-sun to discuss pending domestic and international investment issues. Amid mounting U.S. pressure for inbound investment and escalating tariff risks, the discussions are presumed to have centered on the group's domestic investment plans and strategic responses regarding local investments in the U.S.

According to ruling bloc sources on the 3rd, President Lee held an unannounced meeting with Executive Chair Chung on the 2nd. Specific details of the meeting were not made public. However, the group's Saemangeum investment blueprint worth approximately 9 trillion won—announced early this year—and the current progress of the project are likely to have been primary agenda items.

Hyundai Motor Group stated regarding whether the meeting took place that it could not confirm the matter. U.S. trade issues are also presumed to have been placed on the discussion table.

As the U.S. administration under Donald Trump ramps up pressure on South Korean conglomerates to deliver on their investment pledges in the U.S., observers point to the likelihood that the two exchanged views on local investments in the U.S. and countermeasures against potential tariffs.

Given that higher U.S. import tariffs would directly hit exports from Hyundai Motor and Kia to the U.S., the auto industry's strategic countermeasures stand out as a central concern.

President Lee has recently been holding a succession of closed-door meetings with heads of major conglomerates. Following a meeting with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on the 20th of last month, he reportedly had dinner with Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong on the 26th.

With the meeting with Executive Chair Chung, analysts interpret that the presidential office is broadening its engagement with the business community.

In the encounters with conglomerate chiefs, a broad range of key economic and industrial issues appear to have been addressed, including the administration's three flagship mega-projects, the expansion of domestic investments, and investment commitments in the U.S.

In particular, alongside investments in high-tech industries such as semiconductors, AI, and future mobility, measures to establish a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region are also likely to have been discussed.

                                                                                                         Park Young-hoon