ULSAN — President Lee Jae-myung said on the 30th that South Korea's Navy will acquire nuclear-powered submarines and manned-unmanned carrier vessels as core assets of a self-reliant defense posture.
Lee made the remarks at the launching ceremony for the Daeho Kim Jong-seo, a naval vessel, held in Ulsan. "With the resolve embodied in the Daeho Kim Jong-seo, we will press on to the end toward achieving self-reliant defense," he said. He added that South Korea's shipbuilding industry, which boasts world-leading technology, is "a source of our pride and the driving force that made Korea a maritime power." He said the world comes to Korean shipyards for their superior quality, on-time delivery and reliable after-sales support. "The government will not rest on these achievements, and will actively support our shipbuilding industry so it can maintain its wide technological lead and climb another step higher," he said.
Lee also said he would develop shipbuilding into a new growth engine that boosts both the national economy and regional economies.
Describing the vessel before him, Lee said the Daeho Kim Jong-seo may look like a single ship from the outside, but inside it is packed with radar that detects targets hundreds of kilometers away, weapons systems that analyze hundreds of targets, and software that ties it all together. "You cannot build such a cutting-edge warship with shipbuilding technology alone," he said. "This ship can go out to sea because our defense industry capabilities have filled in every part of it."
He called the defense industry a core national industry. "Going forward, we must build up research and development capabilities while quickly transferring advanced private-sector technologies into the defense sector," he said. He also pledged to widen opportunities for academia and companies, not just the military, to conduct research and invest together. "We will cut back complicated procedures and expand support so that new technologies are deployed to the field without delay," he said.
Lee closed by praising naval personnel. "I am so proud of all of you who have defended our seas through every kind of storm," he said, promising that the government will improve pay and service conditions so that they can focus solely on their missions.
