ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — Hanna Yun remembers how excited she felt when she learned BlueOval SK was bringing Kentucky’s single largest investment in history to Hardin County.
“I’ve always wanted to bring a Korean Company to our Kentucky,” Yun said. “When I heard that BlueOval was coming, I was so happy and so thrilled to hear that and then now we have four important companies here in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.”
The $5.8 billion BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale is a joint venture of Ford Motor Company and South Korea-based SK. It’s part of a growing portfolio of South Korean companies investing in the Elizabethtown and Hardin County area. LOTTE Aluminum, ANP Enertech and Woowon Technology are also South Korean companies.
The developments prompted the city of Elizabethtown to create a new volunteer position — director of South Korean Relations — to strengthen its relationship with South Korea. The city council appointed Yun to the role earlier this year. Yun, who immigrated to the United States from Seoul more than 30 years ago, will act as a liaison between Elizabethtown, Korean businesses and Hardin County.
Yun hopes to see even more South Korean companies put their roots down in the Elizabethtown area, much like she did when she and her husband moved to the city in 1992.
“We have a wonderful community,” said Yun. “I have three children, and I raised three children here and this town has everything.”
Yun has always been passionate about volunteering and sharing her culture. She currently teaches a Korean language and culture class at Elizabethtown and Community Technical College and recently finished a four-year presidency with the Korean American Association of Kentuckiana. She previously taught Korean language school in Jefferson County, worked at Asia-Institute Crane House in Louisville and volunteered at the American Red Cross.
“I did a lot of volunteering,” Yun said with a smile.
As director of South Korean relations, Yun will be a liaison for both cultures. The battery park is expected to increase Hardin County’s population by 22,000 people over the next six years. Some, like Yun, are expected to be immigrants or Koreans temporarily staying in the Elizabethtown area to train thousands of new workers. Yun will be ready to roll out the welcome mat when they arrive.
“We’re important to each other. We’re a piece of a puzzle and if we take one piece out of it that big, beautiful puzzle is not going to be finished,” Yun said, adding that she’s impressed by the collaboration she’s already seen among those involved in the BlueOval SK project.
Battery production at the BlueOval SK Battery Park is expected to begin in 2025. As site work continues, Yun is also working to create a sister city partnership with a city southwest of Seoul that is also home to an SK plant. She and a group from Elizabethtown have plans to visit the South Korean city this October to start developing a relationship between the two cities.