Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp journeys to South Korea in sixth overseas trip

ATLANTA– Georgia Governor Brian Kemp travels to South Korea for his sixth trip abroad as governor.

The Republican left late Monday for a trip of about ten days to the Asian country and arrived in South Korea on Wednesday. He plans to return by the middle of next week.

Kemp is visiting South Korean companies currently doing business in Georgia, as well as companies that may open offices there, state officials said. The roughly 15-member delegation, including state lawmakers and economic recruiters, will host a reception with the Hyundai Motor Group but does not plan to meet with political or cultural leaders.

Jessica Atwell, spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said the reception will be “an opportunity to bring many partners together in one place to celebrate the partnerships we have built over nearly four decades.”

Kemp will also hold meetings with LG Group, SK Group, Hanwha Qcells and CJ Foodville.

LG Group is building a $7.6 billion electric vehicle battery factory car assembly complex that Hyundai is building near Savannah. SK Group owns a battery factory in Commerce and is building a semiconductor materials manufacturing plant in Covington. Hanwha Qcells owns solar panel factories in Dalton and Cartersville. CJ Foodville is building a bakery in Gainesville.

The cost to taxpayers for the trip was not immediately available.

While in South Korea in 2019, Kemp met with then-Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon and Hyundai Motor Group officials before the conglomerate announced its Ellabell facility. Kemp went to Germany in 2020, visited Israel in May 2023 and the nation of Georgia and France in June 2023. He also attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2023 and 2024.