Yoon meets with S. Korean businesses seeking participation in Ukraine reconstruction

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday met with South Korean business officials seeking to participate in Ukraine’s reconstruction, his office said.

The meeting, held in Warsaw on the last day of Yoon’s three-day official visit to Poland, was attended by officials from 11 businesses and organizations, including Samsung C&T Corp., Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., Kolon Global Corp. and HD Hyundai XiteSolution.

During the meeting, Land Minister Won Hee-ryong laid out the government’s plans to support the businesses’ entry into the Ukraine reconstruction market, while business officials shared information on current business conditions in Ukraine and their individual strategies for pursuing projects in construction, energy, IT, rail and other areas.

Yoon said the government will actively support their plans, noting South Korea’s experience of rebuilding the nation after the 1950-53 Korean War, with the assistance of the international community, will be of great help to Ukraine’s post-war recovery and reconstruction, according to his office.

The meeting was arranged as a follow-up to an agreement between Yoon and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to work together to rebuild the war-torn country, the presidential office said.

Yoon and Zelenskyy met on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May. Zelenskyy asked at the time for the participation of South Korean companies in his country’s reconstruction.

Separately, Yoon met over lunch with a group of officials from South Korean businesses operating in Poland.

More than 350 South Korean companies are currently in the Polish market, which is the sixth-largest of the 27 European Union member states, according to the presidential office.

Poland is also home to the largest South Korean-owned battery plant in Europe.

Yoon praised the businesses for their successes in Poland and promised to help remove any obstacles to their operations through closer cooperation with Warsaw.