Seoul to nurture yacht industry

By Park Si-soo

The government will inject 21 billion won ($19.4 million) in research and development over the next five years to help allow local shipyards enter the global luxury mega yacht market.

It plans to spend 1 billion won this year alone starting studies on the construction of such boats, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

The roadmap comes as international demand for mega yachts that are at least 100 feet long (30.5 meters) have grown by an average 10 percent in recent years.

These boats usually have a price tag of about 10 billion won with the overall market itself reaching 3.8 trillion won as of 2013.

Korea ― despite being a leader in the building of large ships and a front-runner in the information technology sector ― has had little presence in the luxury yacht industry.

This shortcoming has made it impossible for the country to make inroads into the lucrative market dominated by Italian, Taiwanese and Chinese firms.