Han Acting President Visits Ulsan HD Hyundai Heavy Industries... "Opportunity for US-Korea Cooperation to Revitalize Shipbuilding Industry"

Encouraging Employees During Visit to Ulsan Shipyard
Han Duck-soo Stresses Korea-U.S. Cooperation in Shipbuilding Industry

Han Duck-soo, Acting President and Prime Minister, stated on the 16th during his visit to Ulsan HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, "This could be a valuable opportunity to promote the interests of both countries and lead the resurgence of our shipbuilding industry."

Having visited Gwangju Kia Autoland the previous day, Acting President Han visited HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan on this day to listen to voices from the field and encourage employees. At this occasion, he said, "In a phone call with President Donald Trump, we agreed to strengthen shipbuilding cooperation between Korea and the U.S., and recently the U.S. government has strongly expressed its determination to rebuild the shipbuilding industry."

He continued, "In a situation where the world is shocked by the U.S.'s new tariff policies, we are considering various ways to respond," adding, "We are making efforts to mitigate the impact on our industry."

Acting President Han emphasized, "Since the U.S. government has announced that it will prioritize negotiations with allies such as Korea, we will do our best in negotiations to minimize tariffs we will bear and to promote mutual benefits between the two countries."

On the same day, Acting President Han inspected the dock where the Navy’s latest Aegis destroyer, the Dasan Jeong Yak-yong, is being constructed.

He asked Kwon Oh-gap, Chairman of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, "Are all the companies located around here?" Chairman Kwon replied, "About 3,000 partner companies are all located in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) area, and about 250 partner companies assemble the warships, so almost complete localization is possible."

Regarding this visit, the Prime Minister’s Office explained, "As shipbuilding has emerged as one of the three major cooperation tasks between Korea and the U.S., this visit to HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Ulsan shipyard, which boasts the world’s largest and most advanced shipbuilding technology, was to encourage the employees."

Before visiting HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Acting President Han visited a restaurant in Ulsan Jungang Traditional Market that has been providing lunch to undernourished children. He told the restaurant owner, "I heard that you have consistently provided pork cutlets to children in need for 15 years," and added, "I truly respect and deeply appreciate what you have done."