Asia | Charged atmosphere

South Korea’s makers of electric vehicles receive a nasty shock

A failure of diplomacy and planning sparks anger at the government

An employee works on the production line manufacturing Hyundai Motor Co. Ioniq 5 electric vehicles (EV) at the company's Ulsan plant in Ulsan, South Korea, on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. The last time Hyundai Motor sold a car in Japan was in 2009, when it pulled out after years of dismal sales. Now, South Koreas top automaker is back, but with a twist: its only going to sell electric vehicles, and only online. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images
|SEOUL

CHUNG EUI-SUN could be forgiven for feeling betrayed. In May the chairman of the Hyundai Motor Group, a South Korean carmaker, promised President Joe Biden that his firm would invest $10.5bn in America, including $5.5bn for a big new plant in Georgia, which would start producing electric vehicles in 2025. America’s president thanked him, saying “we will not let you down.”

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Electric storm”

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