Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, in front seat, and Exec. Vice Chairman Chung Ui-sun of Hyundai Motor Group share a ride in the Nexo, a hydrogen-powered new SUV produced by Hyundai Motor on the way to the Namyang Research Center in Namyang, Gyeonggi Province, Jan. 30. (Photo: Hyundai Motor)

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon shared a ride in a Nesso, a hydrogen-powered sedan built by Hyundai Motor, with Senior Vice Chairman Chung Ui-sun of Hyundai Motor Group on his visit to the automaker’s Namyang Research Center in Namyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Jan. 30.

The prime minister said he enjoyed his ride on the first hydrogen-powered SUV, saying the ride was smooth and quite with not much bumps.

Reports said the prime minister chose to make a call on the research center to lead the auto industry and deliver the message that the government is fully behind the hydrogen industry, especially automobiles powered by hydrogen. Lee made the remarks during his visit to the group's research and development (R&D) center in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, in a tour aimed at gauging progress in the development of next-generation cars.

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on expressed hope that Hyundai Motor Group will take the lead in next-generation vehicles, during his meeting with the automotive group's vice chief.

The prime minister held his first one-on-one meeting with Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun as he seeks cooperation with the country's major conglomerates in boosting the economy and creating jobs.

“(I) hope Hyundai Motor will become the leader in next-generation vehicles.” Lee wrote in a guestbook at the center that focuses on R&D on such vehicles as hydrogen fuel-cell cars and self-driving cars.

During the meeting with Lee, Chung said he expects a sharp rise in the supply of hydrogen fuel-cell cars in the future.

“We are investing now because if we invest later, we will not be competitive. I hope for the government's active cooperation and support.” Chung said.

President Moon Jae-in made official a move to build a so-called hydrogen economy earlier this month as the government unveiled an ambitious plan to increase the number of hydrogen-powered vehicles here to 80,000 in less than four years.

The government chose to develop the hydrogen industry as a new growth engine to lead the economic growth in the future as the semiconductor industry has been doing.

The government drew up a road map for its policies to go after the hydrogen industry as the next growth engine. Under the plan, the country will have more than 4,000 hydrogen-driven autos this year and then the number is boosted to more than 100,000 in 2025 so that the price of a hydrogen-powered car will be brought down to around 30 million won after achieving the scale of economy.

The government plans to provide subsidies for fuel cell electric taxis and trucks with a goal to increase the number of hydrogen-powered vehicles in the country to 1.8 million by 2030 and to 6.2 million in 2040 with the number of hydrogen charge stations boosted to 1200 from just 14 now.

In the new year, the prime minister has been expanding his inspection into the economic sector in an apparent bid to help prop up the slowing economy and boost job creation. Earlier this month, he met Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., in his first gathering with one of the chiefs of the country's four largest conglomerates since he took office in 2017.

Hyundai motor plans to produce 500,000 hydrogen cars by 2030 b y investing 7.6 trillion won to expand the production facilities for the hydrogen cars in the country aimed at developing 44 hydrogen car models by 2025 including sedans and SUVs
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said, “As one of the measures to boost demand for H2 vehicles in Korea, I publicly propose that we begin to replace police buses that mostly sit idly at Gwanghwamun with H2 buses.”

“Like other countries, we must become more active in engaging eco-friendly vehicles. We have world-class technologies in the H2 vehicle and fuel cell fields.” Lee said.