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President Lee to be accompanied by senior Trump officials on visit to Philadelphia shipyard

Published: 25 Aug. 2025, 21:34

President Lee Jae Myung holds a press briefing aboard Air Force One on Aug. 24, after departing from Tokyo en route to Washington for the Korea-U.S. summit. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Lee Jae Myung will visit Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia on Tuesday, following the Korea-U.S. summit. He will be accompanied by senior Trump administration officials, underscoring growing cooperation on shipbuilding.

The tour comes as the MASGA project — short for “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again”— has become a bargaining chip in tariff talks between Seoul and Washington.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Lee will be joined by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Sang H. Yi, acting boss of the U.S. Maritime Administration.

The Hanwha Philly Shipyard, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was acquired by Hanwha Group in December last year for $100 million.

The visit coincides with the christening ceremony of the State of Maine, a multiuse ship. The U.S. Department of Transportation plans to livestream the ceremony. The ceremony was delayed by a week to accommodate Lee’s schedule, according to Nikkei Asia on Aug. 16.

Trump officials are not new to the site. On July 30, just before a breakthrough in tariff negotiations, then-White House budget director Russell Vought and Navy Secretary John Phelan inspected the shipyard and reported their findings directly to Trump, which reportedly helped conclude the talks.

Given the shipbuilding sector’s growing strategic value, Lee will be joined by a high-profile economic delegation including Hanwha Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan and HD Hyundai Executive Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun.

A large crane stands at Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje shipyard in Geoje, South Gyeongsang, on July 31. [NEWS1]

Hanwha plans to position the Philadelphia yard as a forward base for Korea-U.S. shipbuilding collaboration, while HD Hyundai is expanding its partnerships with U.S. yards like Huntington Ingalls and is already investing in work force development in the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s longstanding interest in Korean shipbuilding is also drawing renewed attention.

After the 2024 election, he told then-President Yoon Suk Yeol that American shipbuilding needs Korean help and cooperation, noting his familiarity with Korea’s manufacturing capabilities and stressing the need for joint efforts in ship maintenance and repair.

Trump first visited a Korean shipyard in June 1998 as a real estate businessman, when Daewoo Group invited him to the Okpo Shipyard in Geoje, South Gyeongsang.

“I still remember Trump repeatedly saying ‘wonderful,’” said Lim Moon-kyu, a former senior executive at Daewoo Shipbuilding who accompanied Trump. "That brief encounter, I believe, played a significant role in building his trust in Korea’s shipbuilding capabilities 27 years later.”

A ship under construction is seen at Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje shipyard in Geoje, South Gyeongsang, on July 31. [YONHAP]

The U.S. shipbuilding industry, once a wartime powerhouse, has long been in decline.

While the country produced 2,710 Liberty ships during World War II, demand plummeted postwar. The 1920 Jones Act — requiring ships traveling between U.S. ports to be built, owned and operated by Americans — has also been blamed for weakening competitiveness.

Policy decisions have further undermined the sector. The Reagan administration scrapped a shipbuilding subsidy program in the 1980s, and the 1990s saw widespread consolidation of naval yards. The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where Hanwha Philly Shipyard now stands, was one of those shuttered.

In contrast, China has surged ahead. After declaring itself a “maritime power” in 2012, the government has aggressively nurtured its state-run shipyards.

This month, Beijing finalized the merger of China State Shipbuilding and China Shipbuilding Industry, creating the world’s largest shipbuilder.

The Wall Street Journal noted that "the companies accounted for almost 17 percent of the global market last year, based on new-orders data from Clarksons Research."

The scale of the U.S.-China gap is stark.

According to Clarkson Research, China secured orders for 2,093 vessels last year, while the U.S. managed just two ships. China also delivered 1,099 ships, while the U.S. delivered seven.

The Pentagon estimates that China’s fleet of combat vessels grew from 220 in 2010 to 400 by 2025. The United States, in contrast, has seen virtually no change, with its fleet shrinking slightly from 288 ships to 287 over the same period.

But Trump issued an executive order titled “Making Shipbuilding Great Again” in April, signaling his intent to revitalize the shipbuilding industry.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE SU-JEONG [[email protected]]