Korea-US-Global Briefing
Saturday August 22, 2026
Cadence: Briefing Mon-Fri, Sunday Week in Review, plus special updates most Saturdays.
In this week’s Saturday Update, I’d like to share a partial preview of my work in progress, “Connected.”
Chapter 1 focuses on the connected vehicle architecture. Other chapters, so far, include semiconductors, AI, robotics, shipbuilding, steel, and batteries, all tied to the “Connected” theme.
Again, this is only a partial of my first draft. That said, it does share my thought process.
Enjoy.
CHAPTER 1
Connected Vehicles
A “connected car” is defined as any vehicle with a network connection linking it to external systems: the OEM cloud, mobile apps, other vehicles (V2V), and road infrastructure (V2I).
Architecture Basics
The core components are:
- Telematics Control Unit (TCU). The vehicle’s cellular modem and gateway to the outside world.
- In-vehicle network. The Controller Area Network (CAN bus) is a specialized internal communications network. It allows microcontrollers and Electronic Control Units (ECUs) to talk to each other directly, without a central computer, over the Ethernet linking the ECUs for engine, brakes, infotainment, and ADAS.
- Over-the-air (OTA) update system. Pushes software and firmware to ECUs remotely.
- Backend cloud platform. OEM servers handling data, diagnostics, and app connectivity.
Software Update Management System (SUMS)
The core requirements are:
- A certified SUMS process covering the full update lifecycle: development, validation, deployment, and rollback.
- RXSWIN (RX Software Identification Number), a traceable ID confirming which software version is installed.
- Safe update delivery. Updates must not compromise safety-critical systems, even if interrupted mid-update.
Cybersecurity Management System (CSMS)
What OEMs must demonstrate:
- A certified CSMS covering the full vehicle lifecycle: design, production, and post-production in-service monitoring.
- A risk assessment process for identifying and mitigating cyber threats before type approval.
- Incident monitoring and response, meaning the ability to detect and react to cyberattacks on vehicles already on the road.
- Supply chain oversight, verifying that supplier components meet the same cybersecurity bar.
Risk
Every one of the connection points above is also an attack surface. Connected vehicles face threats similar to any networked IT system, but with physical safety consequences.
Key risk categories:
- Remote exploitation. An attacker gains control via the TCU, infotainment, or app APIs.
- Supply chain risk. Vulnerable components or software from Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers.
- OTA update hijacking. Malicious or corrupted software pushed to fleet vehicles.
- Data privacy. Location, driving behavior, and biometric data exposure.
The Global Compliance Landscape: R155 and R156
More connectivity also means more regulatory exposure.
Regulators responded with two linked UN regulations: R155 on how you manage cyber risk, and R156 on how you manage software updates safely. Together they are now a precondition for vehicle type approval in many major markets.
More specifically, R155 requires a certified, organization-wide Cybersecurity Management System covering design, production, and post-production in-service monitoring, plus risk assessment, incident response, and supplier verification.
R156 governs how OTA and wired software updates are planned, deployed, and verified. It is the companion regulation to R155.
OEM Approaches
I am assuming the major vehicle manufacturers may be taking similar approaches, while maintaining their own proprietary oversight.
What is universal is how they look at the shared landscape: the links to external systems noted above, the OEM cloud, mobile apps, other vehicles (V2V), and road infrastructure (V2I), as well as V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) and V2H (Vehicle-to-Home).
One example is Hyundai and their connected vehicle architecture and compliance.
Hyundai Motor Group is converging its connected vehicle effort on one in-house software brand (Pleos), one consolidated telematics unit (Mobis MTCU), and in-house certification through Hyundai AutoEver.
This vertical integration allows for greater oversight of the supply chain that R155 imposes on OEMs, as well as tighter internal governance.
Question Call Don 310-866-3777
Don Southerton
Founder & CEO, Bridging Culture Worldwide
www.bridgingculture.com
South Korea seeks US visa rule changes after mass arrests spark outrage
I am quoted and contributed to the article …. Don Southerton
KIM JAEWON and PAK YIU
September 11, 2025 12:16 JST
Updated on September 11, 2025 14:47 JST
SEOUL/NEW YORK — Moon Young-ju could not contain his anger when he heard the news that over 300 South Koreans had been detained after U.S. immigration authorities last week raided a joint Hyundai Motor-LG Energy Solution battery factory under construction in the state of Georgia.
The 54-year-old former merchant protested in front of the U.S. Embassy in downtown Seoul on Wednesday with a yellow banner reading: “Yankees go home. Get out america army.”
“I came here because I was so upset,” Moon said after lighting a cigarette. “We invested as they demanded. We built factories as they demanded. It’s our blood, sweat and tears.”
Moon is not alone. South Korea’s government faces widespread public outcry and calls to stand up to the U.S. over the treatment of its arrested citizens, some of whom were seen in footage being led away restrained by body chains, although the two sides have since agreed to send the detained workers home this week on a charter flight.
The raid came as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes ahead with a crackdown on illegal immigration even as he demands that countries like South Korea make massive investments to build state-of-the art production facilities in America — part of his policy of “reshoring” manufacturing and reducing trade deficits.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said at a news conference on Thursday that the raid would likely make some companies from his country “hesitant” to carry out more large investments in the U.S. “Companies are quite taken aback. The fact is that they sent these workers to the U.S. not for the long term, but to set up machinery in a factory because there aren’t enough workers in the U.S. who know how to do that,” he said.
The raid and the accompanying national indignation have pushed Seoul to demand that Washington loosen visa rules for workers from abroad amid confusion about the status of the detained.
Lee expressed hope that authorities in the two nations could negotiate changes to visa regulations that would make it easier for South Korean firms to send workers to the U.S. for limited periods.
The government dispatched Foreign Minister Cho Hyun to Washington. The ministry said that he had a meeting with U.S. counterpart Marco Rubio on Wednesday, asking the secretary of state to set up a new visa category for South Korean workers.
He also told Rubio that South Koreans were “hurt and shocked” by the arrests of their compatriots, who came to the U.S. to contribute to the revival of the country’s manufacturing industry.
After arriving on Tuesday, he hosted a meeting with executives from eight South Korean companies operating businesses in the U.S., including LG and Hyundai Motor.
Company executives asked the minister to bring up with the U.S. the potential launch of a separate visa under the E-4 category — which currently covers certain classes of special immigrants — for South Korean professionals, as well as increasing approvals of E-2 visas — which cover professionals with advanced degrees and persons of exceptional ability — for South Korean companies investing in America. They also asked the U.S. government to clarify guidelines for B-1 visas, a short-term business visa that employees of South Korean companies get when they make work trips to the country. Many of the detained South Korean workers held such a visa.
Cho told the businesspeople that their concerns had already been conveyed to Washington and pledged to continue making efforts to ensure the smooth operation of South Korean companies investing in the U.S.
Moon Young-ju stands next to his protest banner near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Sept. 10. (Photo by Kim Jaewon)
South Korean companies complain that there is only a limited quota of B-1 visas, meaning they cannot get them when they need them.
“Sometimes we need to send our employees immediately,” said an industry source familiar with the issue, who also requested anonymity. “It’s not easy to set up a plan a year in advance. Many Korean companies raised this issue before. I’m very sorry that [the raid] happened before the problem was resolved.”
The incident has rattled Asian investors who have set up factories in the U.S. and highlights some of the labor difficulties foreign companies face. Companies are now wondering how they can set up and build manufacturing in the U.S. if they don’t have support from the authorities, said Don Southerton, a business consultant who works with South Korean companies such as Hyundai.
He anticipates some projects will slow down, and this will send ripples through America’s battery market. Southerton says the incident underscores the urgency of visa revisions that would allow expat engineers to work more effectively and streamline projects that will foster American manufacturing. Currently, he said, the visa system “allows them to teach how to use a screwdriver but doesn’t actually allow them to use a screwdriver. How can you show them how it’s done without actually demonstrating?”
On Monday, South Korea’s foreign minister said that resolving the visa issue is a precondition for the country to deliver the$150 billion in investments promised during a summit between the two allies last month.
“At the previous summit, there was a request for … [South] Korea’s large-scale investment, and we also responded to it. To achieve it, I would stress to the U.S. side that this visa issue is a precondition,” Cho told lawmakers before his trip to the U.S. capital.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said foreign companies were encouraged to legally bring “your very smart people, with great technical talent, to build World Class products.” He added, “We will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so. What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers.”
Analysts said that South Korea needs to use its investment package as leverage to pressure the Trump administration into reaching an agreement on the issue.
“Because there are already pledges of large-scale investment, it should be possible to solve the visa quota issue within that framework,” said Jung Jae-hwan, a professor of international politics and economy at Inha University in Incheon.
“Of course the U.S. could impose new conditions, such as a certain portion of local hires, but at least they should be able to mitigate the recurrence of this kind of detention case.”
Additional reporting by Steven Borowiec.
South Korea seeks US visa rule changes after mass arrests spark outrage