Lee Jae Myung pledges to support US push to revitalise shipbuilding
President Lee Jae Myung visited a shipyard in Philadelphia, in a symbolic move to underscore South Korea's commitment to helping revitalise the United States' shipbuilding industry.
Lee toured Hanwha Philly Shipyard, which Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean acquired last year for 140 billion won ($100 million), a day after holding a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, reports Yonhap news agency.
He attended a christening ceremony for the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) "State of Maine" built for the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), as he was accompanied by senior officials from both nations.
The Philadelphia shipyard is the first U.S. shipyard acquired by a South Korean company, and is considered a centerpiece of Seoul's proposed shipbuilding cooperation project, dubbed "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again" (MASGA).
"The Republic of Korea's shipbuilding industry is setting out to take on a new challenge to contribute to strengthening U.S. maritime security and rejuvenating America's shipbuilding industry," Lee said, referring to South Korea by its official name.
"Through the MASGA project, we will achieve a 'win-win' outcome that would see the shipbuilding industries of both the United States and South Korea take a leap forward together," he added.
Lee also expressed hope that the initiative would open a new chapter in the alliance as a "future-oriented, comprehensive strategic partnership" encompassing security, economic and technological cooperation.
Hanwha said the ship is a symbol of the bilateral partnership and vowed to make additional investments to ramp up the shipyard's annual production capacity from the current 1.5 ships to 20 ships.
"It is the embodiment of our two nations working together side by side to reindustrialise for the sake of shared security and prosperity," Hanwha Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan said at the ceremony. "We are creating good manufacturing jobs, building the world's most advanced ships, and fostering a new skilled workforce right here in America."
