SoKor Giant SK Group Investing $22-B In The U.S.

South Korea's second biggest conglomerate is investing $22 billion into the United States, in high-priority areas including chips and clean energy, Michelle Toh and Donald Judd reported for CNN Business.

Photo Insert: SK Group's headquarters in downtown Seoul

The funding announcement comes just as the group's massive chipmaking unit warned of weaker consumer demand for technology products for the rest of the year. It also coincided with a key vote in the US Senate on Tuesday to push forward a bill that seeks to increase domestic production of semiconductors.

Leaders from SK Group met virtually with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday to announce the landmark deal, which is expected to create more than 15,000 new jobs.

Biden revealed the Seoul-based corporate giant plans to grow its US workforce from 4,000 to 20,000 people by 2025. SK Group said it would direct the funding to increased production and development of semiconductors, electric vehicle batteries, and pharmaceuticals.

Up to $14 billion will go toward building two new gigafactories in Tennessee and Kentucky in a joint venture with Ford, the group's chairman, Tae-won Chey, said. Biden touted the announcement as "evidence that the United States, Korea, and its allies are back, and winning the technology competition of [the] 21st century. In the past, these kinds of technology investments went to China."

The president said he had taken a closer look at South Korea's advanced manufacturing capabilities during his trip to the country in May, where he also visited a Samsung factory and met with the chairman of Hyundai.

Biden, who participated in the meeting virtually from the White House after testing positive for COVID-19 last week, acknowledged the irony of welcoming guests from South Korea while he was isolating mere yards away.

"I feel so badly — I'm so close to you," he told the delegation, later posting a shot on social media of him waving from a balcony.

SK Group had earlier this year committed $30 billion in the US by the end of 2025. Biden and Chey said Tuesday the new investment was on top of that. The news came as SK Hynix, the group's chipmaking unit, warned that it expected sales of some electronics to drop in the coming months.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic