Yoon and Musk discuss possible Tesla factory in Korea

President Yoon Suk-yeol, right, and Elon Musk, on the screen on left, speak during a virtual meeting on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk-yeol spoke with Elon Musk Wednesday and discussed the possibility of building a Tesla factory in Korea.

Musk is CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.

A transcript of the video-link conversation wasn't made available, but based on a summary released by the presidential office, Yoon first mentioned the possibility of a Tesla factory being built in Korea and Musk responded positively.

Musk said that Korea is one of the top candidates for a Tesla factory. He acknowledged the country’s strengths and noted that Tesla is using many vehicle parts made in Korea, according to the presidential office.

During the call, Musk said he estimates that the total value of vehicle parts purchases from Korea will exceed 13 trillion won ($9.6 billion) by next year.

It is not clear what sort of factory was being discussed on the call, as Yoon mentioned a gigafactory, which is a term used to describe a Tesla battery plant, and Musk responded more generally without specifying vehicle or battery production.

Tesla did not issue a press release about the call.

"A team dedicated to cooperating with Tesla for building a gigafactory here in Korea will be set up," said Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, during a press briefing after the conversation on Wednesday. "The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency will be involved."

During the call, Yoon praised the achievements of SpaceX and mentioned the satellite launched into orbit by Nuri, a domestically-developed rocket, in June this year. He asked for cooperation between SpaceX and Korean companies to strengthen Korea’s competitiveness in the space industry.

Easing regulations for global companies was also covered during the meeting. Yoon said that reform of regulations that hinder investment in Korea by global high-tech companies will be made in the future. The presidential office did not specify if any particular regulations were discussed.

Yoon and Musk were initially scheduled to meet face-to-face in Bali during the B20 event, which run in parallel to the G20 summit, but Musk’s trip to Indonesia was canceled.

Tesla's stock is down about 54 percent this year and is trading at a 52-week low. The company’s main factory in Asia is in Shanghai. It underwent expansion in September and made half the cars delivered by Tesla last year, according to Bloomberg.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]