South Korea’s free trade agreement with the United States, referred KORUS, has led Korean businesses to hire more American workers on growing investment in the world’s largest economy, data showed Tuesday.

According to an analysis by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) based on leading global commercial information provider Dun & Bradstreet Corp.’s data on Tuesday, 847 Korean investment entities are registered in the United States as of August this year, and they have hired a total 75,000 employees. By state, California is most favored by Korean companies, followed by Texas, New Jersey, and Alabama, while most jobs were created in California, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, in order.

In Rust Belt states in the country’s northern part that played a vital role in bringing Donald Trump his presidential victory, 147 Korean companies are registered, accounting for 17.4 percent of the total, data showed. The Korean companies have hired 12,000 employees in the region, accounting for 16 percent in the entire states.

KITA also said data showed that Korea’s investment in the U.S. jumped from $6.98 billion in 2015 to $12.91 billion in 2016. In the first six months of this year, the amount has already reached $10.33 billion.

An unnamed official from the KITA said that some in the U.S. have been arguing that the Korea-U.S. FTA has reduced the number of jobs in the U.S., but the latest data shows that Korean companies have expanded investment and have created quality jobs in the world’s biggest economy since the two countries’ trade pact took effect in 2012, rebutting such an argument.

Since Trump took office, the U.S. government has demanded Korea to amend terms of the Korea-U.S. FTA or even threatened to end it to reduce deficits from trading with Asia’s fourth largest economy. The two countries have embarked on talks to revise the KORUS terms.

By industry, most jobs in the U.S. have been created in the manufacturing sector. According to the KITA’s analysis, after the FTA took effect, Korean companies’ overall entry into wholesale and retail sectors has declined whereas more Korean firms have ventured into the service sector including computer programming, engineering, air conditioning and heating, electricity system, transportation, and telecommunications.

KITA noted that this trend indicated that a growing number of Korean companies are adding more quality jobs with more sophisticated and direct products and services to the U.S. job market.

By Woo Je-yoon and Lee Eun-joo

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