Marine Industry Issues Statement Opposing HMM Overseas Sale

"Must Be Prevented from the Perspective of National Economy and Security"

The Korea Maritime Industry Federation and the Busan Port Development Council issued a statement on the 23rd opposing the overseas sale of HMM, the country's largest shipping company, stating that "the overseas sale of HMM must be prevented from the perspective of national economy and security."

In their statement, the two associations expressed concern, saying, "German company Hapag-Lloyd has been included among the preliminary bidders for HMM," and questioned whether there is a proper understanding of the importance of shipping by including a foreign shipping company as a potential buyer of HMM, which was revived using taxpayers' money. They also emphasized that shipping handles 99.7% of import and export volumes.

As the HMM acquisition battle officially begins, the HMM headquarters located in Park One Tower, Yeouido. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

They added, "If HMM is sold to Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, there is concern about the overseas outflow of national assets that cannot be measured in monetary terms, such as Korea's container transportation assets, terminals, and decades of accumulated shipping logistics know-how," warning that it would be a significant loss from economic and security perspectives.

They cited the example of HMM deploying additional shipping capacity when foreign shipping companies avoided calling at Busan Port during the logistics crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing that "HMM is an indispensable core asset for our export-oriented country."

Furthermore, they expressed concerns that if HMM is sold overseas, import and export logistics would have to rely on foreign shipping companies, which could cause serious security concerns in the event of a national crisis.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.