[News Today] “Rebuild US shipbuilding with Korea”

[LEAD]
At their first summit, President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to strengthen economic cooperation, starting with shipbuilding.

Lee proposed expanding the Korea-U.S. alliance beyond defense to the economy and technology.

[REPORT]
South Korea's shipbuilding sector played a leverage role in the tariff agreement struck with the U.S.

President Lee Jae Myung said America was becoming great again, stressing the need for overall cooperation across industries including shipbuilding.

Lee Jae Myung / President
A renaissance is taking place not only in shipbuilding but also manufacturing. I hope Korea can be part of that journey.

President Donald Trump also called for bilateral cooperation to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding.

Regarding the Make American Shipbuilding Great Again or MASGA project, Trump said it would take a while to implement but expressed high expectations.

Donald Trump / U.S. President
We are going to be buying ships from South Korea but we are also going to have them make ships here with our people using our people.

President Lee Jae Myung also proposed expanding the Korea-U.S. alliance further to the economic field.

Lee Jae Myung / President
We hope to expand alliance beyond defense and to the economy, science and technology for future-oriented development.

Trump said the two countries need each other and mentioned cooperation in the Alaska gas field development project.

Donald Trump / U.S. President
We have more oil and gas and coal than any other nation in the world by far and we are going to use it and that's the thing that South Korea I think most wants from us I would think.

In the summit, the two leaders expressed commitment to economic cooperation spearheaded by the shipbuilding sector.

President Lee Jae Myung will head to Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania Wednesday morning local time to visit the Philly Shipyard, a symbol of the two countries' cooperation in shipbuilding as he wraps up his U.S. tour.