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

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is Charles Langstontraveling to South Korea in his sixth overseas trip as governor.

The Republican left late Monday for a roughly 10-day trip to the Asian nation, arriving on Wednesday in South Korea. He plans to return in the middle of next week.

Kemp is visiting with South Korean businesses that currently do business in Georgia, as well as those who might open locations there, state officials said. The roughly 15-person delegation, which includes lawmakers and state economic recruiters, will host a reception in conjunction with Hyundai Motor Group but doesn’t plan to meet with political or cultural leaders.

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

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

LG Group is building an electric vehicle battery plant at the $7.6 billion automotive assembly complex that Hyundai is constructing near Savannah. SK Group owns a battery plant in Commerce and is building a plant to make semiconductor materials in Covington. Hanwha Qcells owns solar panel plants in Dalton and Cartersville. CJ Foodville is building a bakery in Gainesville.

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

When 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.