From Gyeongju, we traveled to the city Ulsan to visit two companies: Jinsan Marine Management Company Ltd. and Hyundai Heavy Industries. The President of Jinsan Marine Management greeted us as we exited the bus and then led us to the conference room where we met a few of his staff members. The employees at Jinsan Marine Management were very kind and hospitable, as they provided us with booklets about their company, a free ballpoint pen, and delicious snacks. In the conference room, we were given a presentation by the President about the company history, its mission, and its role in the shipbuilding industry. The company itself is a marine supplier, which specializes in the transport of spare ship parts to shipbuilding companies. One of their largest partners is actually Hyundai Heavy Industries, the company we sought to visit next. Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) is the largest shipbuilding company in the world, headquartered in Ulsan. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures during our HHI visit due to confidentiality. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this visit because I had never seen shipbuilding on such a large scale before. It was very interesting to see the manufacturing process and gain an understanding of how the company functions. First, we toured the inside of one of their buildings, which featured a gallery that outlined the history of the company; the tour guide we met explained the company history as we looked around. We were also able to see a model of Ulsan in which HHI highlights all of their property. It was astounding to learn that they owned such a large part of the port city themselves for manufacturing purposes. Afterwards, we took a bus tour around the shipyard where we were able to see the shipbuilding process firsthand. The ships we saw were enormous! And with the day at a close, I can definitely say it was overall a fantastic experience.
May 13: Ulsan
