Gov. Andy Beshear to travel to Japan, South Korea on economic development trip

Gov. Andy Beshear will travel to Japan and South Korea later this week on an economic development trip to “bring new jobs” to Kentucky, his office announced Friday.

While details of the excursion were not immediately available, a press release announcing the trip said Beshear will meet with leaders at existing Kentucky companies, as well as “businesses considering future investment in the United States.”

Beshear took a similar trip in April, traveling to Germany and Switzerland, also in pursuit of more economic development opportunities for Kentucky, and announced after that his office was in the process of planning a trip to Japan and South Korea.

This week’s will be his second overseas economic development trip as governor.

Beshear often touts his first term as governor as being record-breaking for raking in the highest private sector investment figure of any governor in Kentucky’s history. Since he was first elected in 2019, 88 projects have been announced in Kentucky by companies based in Asia, which represents close to a $13 billion investment and the creation of roughly 13,000 new jobs, his office said last week.

This trip comes at a time when speculation is swirling around the 46-year-old Democrat as a possible vice presidential contender with Vice President Kamala Harris atop the ticket, should President Joe Biden decide to drop out of the race, following his widely-criticized June 27 debate against former President Donald Trump.

On Friday, Biden re-affirmed his commitment to staying in the race on social media and at a campaign event in Wisconsin. At a Louisville event the same day, Beshear said that he will serve out his full second term as governor, which ends in 2027, unless another opportunity emerged that he felt would benefit Kentucky.

“The only other way I would ever consider anything other than this job — which I love — is if I felt that I could help this commonwealth in special and important ways,” Beshear told reporters.

Story continues

On his international trip, Beshear will travel with other members of the executive branch, Kentucky’s Cabinet for Economic Development Secretary Jeff Noel and Transportation Secretary Jim Gray. Their schedule will include a meeting with the Keidanren Committee on U.S. Affairs, a U.S. liaison for the Japanese Business Federation.

Beshear and Gray will also meet with the National Police Agency of the Republic of Korea to sign a Driver’s License Reciprocity Agreement, which will allow employees relocating to the U.S. to have better transportation to their jobs, according to the release from Beshear’s office.

Roughly 200 Japanese-owned facilities operate in Kentucky, employing approximately 47,000 people. Seven Korean-owned facilities employ 1,200 people.

During his time in office, Beshear has announced some of the largest economic development projects in state history, most of which include electric vehicle battery production. Those projects include a $2 billion, 2,000-job gigafactory in Warren County and a $5.8 billion, 5,000-job BlueOval SK Battery Park Hardin County.