The President’s Promise Not Being Kept

The 52 reshoring Korean companies include just one large company, Hyundai Mobis.
The 52 reshoring Korean companies include just one large company, Hyundai Mobis.

People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Myung-ho remarked on June 17 that only 52 South Korean manufacturers reshored and no less than 12,333 South Korean manufacturers offshored from 2017 to 2020.

The 52 reshoring companies consist of just one large company Hyundai Mobis, nine medium-sized companies and 42 small firms. The lawmaker pointed out that the Moon Jae-in administration’s policy to strengthen the domestic manufacturing sector is not working at all and only 10 out of the 52 companies returned to the metropolitan area due to heavy regulations.

According to a recent survey, most of the reshoring companies returned because of overseas factors such as a rise in labor cost rather than domestic incentives. A total of 42 returned from China, nine returned from Southeast Asia, and one returned from the United States.

The Moon Jae-in administration began to work on reshoring in August 2017 and came up with additional measures in November 2018 and the second half of last year. The president declared earlier this year that South Korea would turn itself into a global manufacturing center, and yet the promise is not being kept.

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