President Lee Jae-myung visited Busan on Tuesday and pledged full-scale support for the development of the "Southern Maritime Capital Region," saying he would "accelerate the powerful leap toward the maritime power Korea that President Kim Young-sam dreamed of."
Attending the 31st Day of the Sea ceremony held in Yeongdo District, Busan, President Lee emphasized, "The launch of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries by the Kim Young-sam administration in 1996 was a strong expression of the will to elevate Korea into a maritime powerhouse by enhancing the competitiveness of shipping, ports, shipbuilding, marine industries, and fisheries."
The government plans to foster the shipping industry as a national strategic industry, recognizing it not as a mere logistics sector but as a core industry that supports the nation's economy and security. "We will accelerate the recovery of the global shipping supply chain and build a shipping supply chain that we can fully control with our own hands," President Lee said. "We will also broadly nurture the cooperative development ecosystem of shipping and shipbuilding, marine insurance, ship financing, and shipping service industries."
President Lee added, "Fostering the Southern Maritime Capital Region is not a mere regional development project. It is a survival strategy and a balanced growth strategy that directly connects the vision of a maritime powerhouse to jobs and regional vitality." He pledged, "We will expand logistics infrastructure connecting ports, airports, railways, and roads, and build a marine tourism belt encompassing the entire southern coast to grow it into a 'maritime economic zone.'"
In particular, President Lee referenced his presidential campaign pledge to relocate the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Busan, adding, "We will swiftly establish the maritime court whose legislation has been completed, along with shipping companies and related public agencies, and quickly complete an integrated maritime cluster that includes the Southeast Investment Corporation as soon as National Assembly discussions conclude."
Full Text of President Lee Jae-myung's Address at the Day of the Sea Ceremony
Respected fellow citizens, citizens of Busan, and members of the maritime and fisheries community, I sincerely congratulate you on the 31st Day of the Sea.
The Day of the Sea commemorates Ambassador Jang Bogo's pioneering of Cheonghaejin. This year, we are holding the ceremony in Busan to mark the opening of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' Busan era.
A shipbuilding and shipping powerhouse boasting the world's best technology; a trading powerhouse that has surpassed record-high exports and is now advancing toward the era of $1 trillion in exports; and now a global defense industry powerhouse that the world turns to first — the starting point of "Korea Inc.," which has set sail powerfully toward the world, was right here at the sea.
The protagonists who pioneered this great sea route on the front lines are none other than our seafarers and members of the maritime and fisheries community. The foreign currency you earned by risking your lives aboard foreign merchant ships and deep-sea fishing vessels was the strength that protected your families' livelihoods and the foundation that built the national economy.
Just like the dedication of the miners and nurses dispatched to Germany during the industrialization era, the silent footsteps of our seafarers and maritime and fisheries workers are also great achievements that should be proudly engraved in the history of Korea's industrialization.
The launch of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries by the Kim Young-sam administration in 1996 was a strong expression of the will to elevate Korea into a maritime powerhouse by enhancing the competitiveness of shipping, ports, shipbuilding, marine industries, and fisheries.
Now, 30 years later, the sea has gone beyond being a mere space of logistics and industry to become the front line that determines the survival and future of the nation. In this era of uncertainty, where the global trade order and supply chains are being reshaped, the safety of and leadership over the sea — the bloodline of the global economy — has become more important than ever.
The People's Sovereignty Government will accelerate the powerful leap toward the maritime power Korea that President Kim Young-sam dreamed of. Korea will become the central axis connecting Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific, safeguarding the freedom of navigation of neighboring countries and an open trade order. Furthermore, we will lead a new maritime order in which everyone enjoys the sea together and prospers together at sea. The solid foundation for realizing this national vision is precisely the strength of our shipping and ports, accumulated over a long time.
The government will foster our shipping and port industries as national strategic industries under the recognition that the shipping industry is not a mere logistics industry but a core industry that firmly supports the nation's economy and security. First, we will accelerate the recovery of the global shipping supply chain, which has stagnated, and newly build a shipping supply chain that we can fully control with our own hands. We will broadly nurture a cooperative development ecosystem between shipping and shipbuilding, as well as marine insurance, ship financing, and shipping service industries, to strengthen the basic strength of our shipping industry.
We will also do our best to nurture competent seafarers. Joining us today are students from Korea Maritime and Ocean University who have safely completed their deep-sea training. Aren't these young people the very future of the shipping industry, who will open the newest future beyond the oldest sea route, and the protagonists of the Arctic shipping route era?
Also with us are shipping executives who pioneered shipping routes with bold challenge spirit and built today's shipping powerhouse through preemptive vessel investments. The government will spare no support to help our shipping industry command the world's seas by uniting the challenge spirit of senior shipping veterans with the vigor of young maritime workers.
We will realize the vision of a true maritime powerhouse — one that connects the world through the sea, opens the path of peace, and creates a foundation for shared prosperity — right here in Busan and the southeastern region.
The southeastern region will develop higher, farther, and more powerfully as Korea's proud "Southern Maritime Capital Region."
Dear citizens, fostering the "Southern Maritime Capital Region" is not a matter of mere regional development projects. This is a survival strategy for Korea to survive in fierce global competition, and at the same time, it is the core of a balanced growth strategy that directly links the vision of a maritime powerhouse to jobs and regional vitality.
Our southeastern region holds the geopolitical potential and capabilities to leap forward as the world's premier maritime hub. A massive gateway connecting the Pacific and Eurasia, a comprehensive industrial hub home to world-class companies, and the firm heart of Korea's advanced manufacturing — when the southeastern region's unrivaled capabilities are connected as one with the sea, the value of the "Southern Maritime Capital Region" will fully bloom and astonish the world.
Based on this overwhelming potential, the government will connect Busan and the southeastern region into a new economic zone overflowing with possibilities and opportunities. We will expand logistics infrastructure connecting ports, airports, railways, and roads, and build a marine tourism belt encompassing the entire southern coast to grow it into a "maritime economic zone" that competes confidently with the world.
Furthermore, we will fully open the era of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries here in Busan. We will swiftly establish the maritime court whose legislation has been completed, along with shipping companies and related public agencies, and quickly complete an integrated maritime cluster that includes the Southeast Investment Corporation, which I had already promised, as soon as National Assembly discussions conclude.
Recently, following the relocation of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Busan, the competition rates at universities in the Busan area, including Korea Maritime and Ocean University, have reached all-time highs, and the proportion of students from the Seoul metropolitan area has also increased. Is that true? It must be. Although it may not yet be enough to be called a major change manifesting in reality, I believe it is a new and large sprout of change. The government will surely live up to the expectations of young people who have chosen the sea to discover Korea's future and find new opportunities at sea.
By fostering Busan as Korea's true maritime capital and the southeastern region as the "Southern Maritime Capital Region," we will complete balanced national development, which can be called the nation's lifelong task.
I believe that all maritime and fisheries community members across the country and citizens of the southeastern region will always join us on this path toward becoming a true maritime powerhouse, Korea. Thank you.
