英国安妮公主访问HD现代重工讨论韩英造船海工合作

Princess Anne of the British Royal Family visited HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' (329180) headquarters in Ulsan to discuss cooperation between Korea and the UK in the shipbuilding and marine industries.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries said on the 14th that Princess Anne, her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, and British Ambassador to Korea Colin Crooks and their party visited the Ulsan headquarters. During her three-day visit to Seoul, Ulsan, and Busan from the 13th to the 15th, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries was the only private company Princess Anne visited while in Korea.
The visit came as the British government pursues the development of its shipbuilding and marine industries. Chung Ki-sun, chairman of HD Hyundai, Lee Sang-kyun, vice chairman of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, and President Joo Won-ho and other executives came out to the site to welcome Princess Anne and her party. Princess Anne toured the vessel and special-purpose ship construction sites and the engine plant, and was briefed on the status of cooperation with British defense firms Rolls-Royce and Beaufort.
Rolls-Royce has maintained a relationship with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries since 2012, when it partnered on a project for South Korean Navy frigates. Under the arrangement, Rolls-Royce supplies its "MT30" gas turbine, a core propulsion component, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries integrates it into a propulsion package for supply — a solution also applied to South Korea's next-generation frigates. Beaufort, a company specializing in survival equipment for naval crews, has continued its partnership since first supplying submarine life-saving equipment in 2013, and Beaufort equipment is installed on numerous vessels including the Philippine offshore patrol vessels currently being built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. Chairman Chung said, "The UK is not merely a partner country but a special partner that shared in HD Hyundai's beginnings," adding, "Based on HD Hyundai's world-class technology and shipbuilding capabilities, we will lend our strength to the development of the UK's shipbuilding and marine industries."
HD Hyundai and the British Royal Family have built ties across generations. The late Chung Ju-yung, founder and chairman of Hyundai Group, visited the UK in 1970 to secure a loan for building a shipyard, where he persuaded Charles Longbottom, chairman of the shipbuilding technology firm "A&P Appledore," and obtained a letter of recommendation from Barclays Bank — which became the starting point for HD Hyundai's entry into shipbuilding. At the time, founder Chung famously pointed to the turtle ship depicted on the 500-won bill and persuaded them, saying, "Korea was a country that already built ironclad ships in the 16th century, 300 years ahead of Britain."
The British government's support also extended to nurturing industrial talent. The University of Ulsan, which founder Chung spearheaded and served as first chairman of the board, was a school established through the combined efforts of the Korean and British governments. In 1971, the two countries signed the "Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Korea and the Government of the United Kingdom on the Establishment of Ulsan Institute of Technology (now the University of Ulsan)" (the Korea-UK Agreement). The British government initially dispatched experts and helped develop the curriculum while also providing laboratory equipment. It actively backed the project, expanding its support from an initial 100,000 pounds to 320,000 pounds.
Founder Chung later received the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) from the British government in 1977 for his contribution to promoting Korea-UK trade, and records show he also met Princess Anne in 1983 during activities to bid for the Seoul Olympics. Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and Prince Andrew also visited HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in 1992 and 2008, respectively.