Samsung Electronics has 437 employees in Ridgefield Park and Teaneck. LG Electronics has 224 in Englewood Cliffs and Morristown and SK Life Science has 105 in Paramus.
These are just three of the reasons why a New Jersey delegation is in South Korea on Wednesday morning for the second leg of the 2023 New Jersey East Asia Economic Mission sponsored and fully funded by Choose New Jersey.
“South Korea is a Top 20 trade and investment partner of New Jersey’s — a fact that speaks to the deep economic connection and common vision we both share to grow our innovation-based economies,” Choose New Jersey CEO Wes Mathews said.
Samsung, LG and SK Life Science speak to that number. They are part of a group of 12 South Korea-based companies that employ approximately 1,000 people in the state.
South Korea also represents the eighth-largest export market for New Jersey ($1.2 billion) and New Jersey is the 12th-largest ($2.4 billion) importer among U.S. states.
New Jersey has the third-largest Korean population in the U.S., after New York and California, with more than 100,000 Korean Americans. Bergen County has the highest density of ethnic Koreans in the Western Hemisphere.
More than that, there is a cultural connection. The ties between the countries run deep, Mathews said.
“We’ve had a sister state agreement with a province there for decades,” he said. “Couple that with safe communities, world-class education, the most talented workforce and talent pipeline, and you have many reasons why it makes sense that the next leg of our mission goes to go there.”
The delegates will begin their stay with a U.S. Embassy Briefing breakfast, followed by a Public Service Enterprise Group supplier event.
“We look forward to reintroducing New Jersey to our major Korean partners and meeting their startup community and institutions of higher education, as well as political leadership, and pitch to them why New Jersey is their ideal investment destination in the North American market,” Mathews said.
