Port of Seattle Commission President Sam Cho and Busan Port Authority President & CEO Joon-suk Kang marked 42 years of trade and cooperation by reaffirming their sister port agreement at the 11th Annual Busan International Port Conference on November 28, according to the company's release.
The Port of Seattle and Port of Busan entered into the original sister port agreement in June of 1981. In 2003, the Port of Busan was reformed to become the Busan Port Authority. The renewal of the sister port agreement between the two ports comes on the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Busan Port Authority.
The Port of Busan and the Northwest Seaport Alliance are currently engaged in a feasibility study for a green cargo shipping corridor announced last year at the COP 27 climate change conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The Port of Seattle is also a first mover in an effort to explore the feasibility of a cruise green corridor from the Pacific Northwest to Alaska.
The United States and South Korea continue to be strong economic trading partners, with over $224.4 billion in U.S. dollars of trade in 2022.
South Korea is the Northwest Seaport Alliance’s fourth-largest trading partner, with over $6 billion USD of imports and exports. The Port of Busan is the Northwest Seaport Alliance’s sixth-largest import port trading partner, and third-largest export trading partner as of 2022.