Our day began in Hyundai’s manufacturing facility in Asan. We got the chance to tour and see the process it takes to make each car. Turns out the process, which consists of 4 main shops, is a lot more automated than I had expected. The first shop, stamping, is 89% automated. The second, welding, is 100% automated. The third, paint, is 71% automated. And the fourth, assembly, is only 14% automated. I would not have expected welding to be 100% automated as I thought it would be more of a hands-on, human job. I also would have expected the assembly shop to be a lot more automated. We also learned that the process of making a car only takes 20 hours (11 of which occur in the paint shop)! The specific Hyundai facility in Asan produces a new car every 53 seconds and totals 1100 new cars every day. It was so cool to walk along and see the exact steps it takes to make each car.

We then traveled to the Han River and stopped at a rest step on the highway on the way there. These rest stops are very different from America as they have tons of food and shops within. We then got to take a Han River Cruise where we fed dried fish to seagulls and listened to some live music. It was a great day with great weather and I am excited for taekwondo tomorrow!