Washington: President Lee Jae Myung will visit Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean's shipyard in Philadelphia next week after his summit talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, the presidential office said Thursday. Lee is scheduled to visit the Hanwha Philadelphia Shipyard, a symbolic site for shipbuilding cooperation between the two nations, on Aug. 26, a day after holding summit talks with Trump, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a statement.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the shipyard, which Hanwha acquired under a 348 billion-won (US$251.2 million) contract, is a central piece of bilateral shipbuilding cooperation, dubbed Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA). Lee is expected to use the visit to show support for the shipbuilding industry in both nations, which has played a major role in reaching a trade deal between Seoul and Washington earlier this month.
Ahead of his U.S. visit, Lee will stop in Tokyo on Saturday for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. He will meet with Japanese lawmakers the following day before flying to Washington, arriving on Sunday. On Monday, Lee is scheduled to hold a summit with Trump at the White House. On Tuesday, he will travel to Philadelphia to visit the shipyard, wrapping up his two-nation trip before returning home early Thursday.