South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Washington, DC to call for investment in his country, news agency Yonhap reported, citing a presidential aide.
The two met on Wednesday at Musk’s request while Yoon is in the United States for a six-day state visit, Yonhap said.
Yoon touted South Korea as an ideal country for Tesla to build a gigafactory, citing the country’s cutting-edge industrial robots and high-skilled workers, the news report said.
He also offered to provide support including tax benefits to attract the electric-vehicle maker’s manufacturing plant.
Musk told Yoon that South Korea remains one of the top candidates for a Tesla Gigafactory and he expects to visit the Asian country, according to Yonhap.
Tesla and Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency.
In November, Yoon told Reuters that the country would offer “tailored” incentives and minimise any risks posed by hardline unions to encourage Tesla’s investment, days after he had a video call with Musk.
In March this year, Musk announced Tesla will build a new factory in Mexico, which would be its first plant outside of the US, Germany and China. Canada and Indonesia have been also cited as potential candidates for new Tesla factories, Al Jazeera reports.
