Kim Dong-kwan, Vice Chairman of Hanwha Group, reportedly departed for Washington, D.C., to support the U.S.-South Korea tariff negotiations on the 28th. According to industry sources, Vice Chairman Kim left on this day.
Vice Chairman Kim is expected to join the South Korean negotiating team to solidify the maritime industry cooperation project proposed by South Korea, MASGA (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again). This strategy aims to achieve tariff reductions in exchange for helping the U.S. shipbuilding industry recover. The name is modeled after Donald Trump's slogan, MAGA (Make America Great Again).
Earlier, Minister Kim Jong-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy reportedly conducted U.S.-South Korea industrial minister negotiations at the residence of Howard Lutnick, the Secretary of Commerce of the United States, in New York. Minister Kim proposed the MASGA project at this meeting, and the U.S. side is said to have shown interest.
Hanwha Group acquired the shipyard in Pennsylvania for $100 million earlier this year. To aid the tariff negotiations, it is reported that they proposed additional investments in the Hanwha Pennsylvania shipyard, local technology transfers, and workforce development to the government.