South Korea has promised to help ¡°Make American Shipbuilding Great Again,¡± pitching its world-leading shipyards to President Donald Trump as a model to revive U.S. manufacturing and create desirable blue-collar jobs.
But in reality, the sector is reliant on low-paid migrants and plagued by a high accident rate. Shipbuilding is among the country¡¯s most dangerous industries, killing dozens of people each year, prompting more Korean workers to shun those jobs ¡ª a growing problem for Lee Jae Myung, the nation¡¯s leader.
¡°If we bring in foreign workers on around 2.2 million won ($1,500) a month to fill shipyard jobs, we have to ask what happens to domestic employment, and whether that truly helps the long-term development of the industry,¡± Lee said at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.
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