U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned the possibility of cooperating with Korea's shipbuilding industry as the United States expands its naval power, sending domestic shipbuilding stocks higher early in the session.
As of 9:45 a.m. on the 16th, HYUNDAI HYMS(460930) was trading on the KOSDAQ market at 11,780 won, up 590 won (5.27%) from the previous session. At one point intraday, it rose to 13,950 won, marking a gain of 24.66%.
At the same time, related shipbuilding and shipbuilding equipment stocks are also strong, including Sejin Heavy Industries (2.97%), HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (2.69%), Hanwha Ocean (2.20%), and Hankuk Carbon (0.86%).
The boost to investor sentiment is seen as stemming from comments by President Trump. On the 15th (local time) at the "Defense Innovation Summit" held at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania, Trump emphasized the need to strengthen U.S. naval power and said, "We will probably look at a few corporations coming from Korea and other regions."
He added, "They are cooperating with us in ships (construction)," and "We will also purchase some ships made outside the region."
He also said, "We need many vessels for the Navy," adding, "Our vessels are aging, and we had stepped back."
The market views this as reflecting expectations that the United States could expand cooperation with Korea's shipbuilding industry. In particular, after Trump directly asked President Lee Jae-myung about the possibility of building warships at the Group of Seven (G7) summit last month, he again mentioned Korean corporations, further stoking expectations for Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation.
The United States currently, under the Burns-Tollefson Act, in principle prohibits overseas construction of Navy vessels. However, the Korean government and the shipbuilding industry are pinning hopes on the possibility that the United States could use administrative authority and other measures to exceptionally allow warship construction in Korea.