China's Ningde Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL), the world's largest battery corporation, established its Korean subsidiary in January this year. CATL, a leader in the battery market for electric vehicles as well as energy storage systems (ESS), seems to be targeting the Korean market.
According to the battery industry on the 17th, CATL established its Korean subsidiary, 'CATL Korea Corporation,' on January 19. The headquarters is located on Teheran Road in Gangnam, Seoul. The capital is 600 million won, and the number of issued shares is 120,000. CATL Korea will operate under a co-CEO system, with Kun Hyuk-jun, a South Korean national, and Han Shin-jun, a Chinese national, serving as co-CEOs.
Kun, a co-CEO, is known to be a person who has served as a legal advisor at CATL headquarters. He is expected to manage legal issues that may arise in South Korea, having previously managed the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery supply chain. Han, the other co-CEO, is expected to focus on collaboration with CATL headquarters and the expansion of business in Korea. CATL outlined various businesses related to batteries and ESS in its corporate registration for the purpose of establishing the corporation.
CATL is expected to pursue the Korean ESS market by leveraging its flagship product, prismatic LFP batteries. ESSs are vulnerable to fire. In this regard, LFP batteries are evaluated as superior in heat resistance and safety compared to the ternary batteries where the three domestic battery companies excel. The three domestic battery companies, LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, and SK On, do not mass-produce prismatic LFP products.
The battery industry points to the background of CATL's establishment of a corporation in Korea as the U.S. administration of Donald Trump has increased tariff pressure on China. As tariffs on Chinese products have made it difficult to export to the U.S., it seems that CATL is targeting overseas markets, including Korea. An industry official noted, 'It appears that, under the Trump administration's efforts to exclude Chinese products, CATL is seeking a breakthrough in the Korean market.'
There is also a view that CATL will increase its contact with Korean automotive companies to target the market, given that it has established a corporation in Korea. Lee Hang-gu, a researcher at the Korea Automotive Technology Institute, said, 'The Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on automobiles, but the level that corporations can accept is about 10%' and 'If automotive companies do not want to pass on the remaining tariff to consumers, they need to reduce costs, and there is a possibility that they will adopt CATL's cost-effective LFP battery.'
CATL supplies batteries to global automakers such as Tesla, BMW, and Ford. It began supplying batteries for Tesla Model 3 produced in China in 2020 and supplied LFP batteries to Ford in 2022 and to BMW in 2023.
According to market research firm SNE Research, CATL held a 38.2% share of the global electric vehicle battery market in January to February 2025, ranking first. The second is BYD (16.9%), and the third is LG Energy Solution (9.8%). CATL batteries are currently being used in Hyundai's Casper Electric and Kia's RAY EV and Niro EV.