Hanwha's Kim Dongkwan Joins Korea-US Trade Talks to Back MASGA Initiative

Hanwha Acquires Philly Shipyard in the U.S. Earlier This Year

Kim Dongkwan, Vice Chairman of Hanwha Group, has joined the Korean delegation to provide support for the tariff negotiations between South Korea and the United States.

According to the government and Hanwha Group on July 28, Vice Chairman Kim departed for Washington on this day. It has been reported that he will join the Korean negotiation team to help concretize the 'MASGA' (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again) project, a shipbuilding industry cooperation initiative proposed by South Korea to the United States.

According to multiple government sources, Minister Kim Jeongkwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy proposed the MASGA project, which stands for 'Make American Shipbuilding Great Again,' during a Korea-U.S. industry ministerial negotiation held at the residence of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in New York on July 25 (local time). Hanwha Group is a key pillar of the MASGA project.

Among Korean shipbuilding companies, Hanwha Group is the only one currently making direct investments in the United States as desired by the Trump administration. Hanwha Group, where Vice Chairman Kim Dongkwan serves, acquired Philly Shipyard (Hanwha Philly Shipyard) in the U.S. earlier this year through a $100 million investment.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yooncheol will also depart for Washington, D.C. on July 29 to conduct trade negotiations with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Besant. As Japan and the European Union (EU), both major U.S. trading partners alongside South Korea, have signed a trade agreement centered on a 15% reciprocal tariff, South Korea is also setting the 15% tariff level as the final threshold for its negotiations.

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