GM eyes $2.8b investment in South Korea
regarding loans and unfair financial support made to GM’s headquarters,” said Paik Ungyu.
Paik said the South Korean government needed reassurance from GM on its long-term commitment in the country before it would commit funds.
GM Korea did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The head of GM Korea’s union said workers will go on a full strike if the US automaker decides to completely pull out of the country.
For now, the 14,000-member union will focus on putting pressure on GM to come up with a concrete turnaround plan, Lim Han-taek, said in an interview.
Lim said the union will discuss a full strike and other options at a meeting today.
“We don’t want to go as far as a full strike,” he said, citing negative public views of South Korea’s auto unions.
“But if GM says it will completely withdraw from South Korea, we will down our tools.” GM’s decision to close it Gunsan plant was the latest in a series of steps it has made to put profitability and innovation ahead of sales and volume.
Since 2015, GM has exited unprofitable markets including Europe, South Africa and Russia.
GM laid out a plan to invest around 3 trillion won in South Korea and said KDB, the second biggest shareholder, should provide about one sixth of the total, Lim told Reuters.