President Yoon Suk Yeol on April 11 said, "We will provide full policy support so that Korean corporations can adapt to paradigm shifts in the automotive industry," adding, "We will catapult Korea to the ranks of the world's top three future automotive powers."
He made these statements at the groundbreaking ceremony for the nation's first plant exclusively for electric vehicles (EVs) at Kia Autoland, the factory of automaker Kia Corp., in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do Province.
"The global automotive industry is facing a gargantuan paradigm shift," he said. "As the carbon neutrality movement is speeding up, the penetration rate of EVs is surging and a mobility revolution featuring ultra-high speed data transmission and artificial intelligence-based autonomous driving is occurring."
"The automotive industry, which has driven our economic growth, must preemptively respond to the paradigm shift," he added. "We will provide all policy support such as for R&D and tax so that corporations can swiftly adapt to this revolutionary transformation."
"By 2030, we will boost five-fold the domestic capacity of EV production to make Korea one of the world's top three future automotive powers."
The president added, "This investment marks the first time in 29 years for Hyundai Motor Group to build a domestic plant, and the first step is to invest KRW 24 trillion by 2030 in domestic EVs. So the government will play as one team to allow Hyundai Motor Group to lead global mobility innovation."
Set to become the world's first exclusive plant for purpose-built vehicles, the facility will receive KRW 1 trillion in investment from Hyundai Motor Group, which will build the factory on a plot of land covering 99,000 square m. Mass production is slated to start in the second half of 2025 with annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles.
