Collaborating on Shipbuilding Central to Trump’s Meeting With South Korean President

President Donald Trump met with South Korea’s new president Monday and discussed collaborating on military and commercial shipbuilding in light of Communist China’s dominance in the industry.

The White House summit was President Lee Jae Myung’s first meeting with Trump since he was elected president in June.    

“I believe that there is a renaissance taking place not only in the shipbuilding sector but also in the manufacturing industry,” Lee said while seated next to Trump in the Oval Office, adding, “I hope that Korea can be part of that renaissance.”

South Korea produces nearly 30% of the world’s ships, outpaced only by China, which produces about 53%, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The U.S. only produces about 1%, which is why “President Lee’s visit to the Oval Office today matters,” according to The Heritage Foundation’s Victoria Coates. 

In April, Trump signed an executive order aimed at revitalizing and rebuilding America’s shipbuilding industry “to promote national security and economic prosperity.” 

Following the order, South Korea announced a $150 billion investment into American shipbuilding, a move that “will finally start to right that ship,” Coates, who formerly served as deputy national security adviser to Trump in his first administration, said, referring to America’s need to increase shipbuilding in light of China’s dominance in the industry.  

The shipbuilding deal between the U.S. and South Korea took shape amid tariff negotiation in July. South Korea pledged to partner with the U.S. and the Trump administration’s campaign to “Make America Shipbuilding Great Again.”  

In a symbolic sign of their commitment to the deal, South Korean negotiators in July gifted the Trump administration 10 red MAGA-style baseball caps that read “Make America Shipbuilding Great Again.” 

South Korea “has a massive capacity in terms of production and technological advancement” for shipbuilding, a Heritage Foundation August report explains.  

Given the national security concerns China poses to the U.S., South Korea can be thought of as “America’s capable and reliable security partner that can play a pivotal role in a broader context beyond the U.S.-South Korea security theater,” according to the report.  

In addition to shipbuilding, Trump said he and Lee would discuss government stability in South Korea.  

“WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA? Seems like a Purge or Revolution,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday morning. “We can’t have that and do business there. I am seeing the new president today at the White House. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”  

While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office later Monday morning, Trump said his comments were in response to “very vicious raids” on churches and even a joint military base in South Korea. Trump said he did not know if the reports about the actions of the new government were true, but he planned to discuss the matter with Lee.  

Prosecutors in South Korea have conducted raids on Unification Church sites in South Korea following accusations that church leaders sought political favors from government officials in exchange for luxury goods and financial support, United Press International reports. The Unification Church, founded in the 1950s in South Korea by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, denies the allegations.  

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