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The Korea Times

A red golf cap embroidered with the slogan “Make America Shipbuilding Great Again” (Masga) has emerged as an unlikely symbol of progress in recent US-South Korea tariff negotiations.
Behind the scenes, the urgent production of the hat by a small Seoul-based manufacturer shows how symbolism and speed converged in diplomacy.
The order came suddenly. “The US and South Korean flags must be stitched side by side above the Masga slogan on the front of the cap,” a Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy official told the Seoul-based hat maker, Moja Factory, located in Dongdaemun district.
The design was intended not just as merchandise, but as a key visual aid in high-level talks.

The Masga slogan, created by the ministry staff as part of a strategic policy proposal for bilateral shipbuilding cooperation, had helped break a stalemate in tariff talks.
To make it stick, South Korean negotiators needed a bold, tangible object, a hat echoing Donald Trump’s iconic red “Make America Great Again” (Maga) cap, tailored to American tastes but delivering a South Korean message.
In an interview with Hankook Ilbo on Wednesday, Moja Factory sales manager Shin Hae-seon recalled her surprise at the request. “They asked for confidentiality and said it was for an important negotiation,” she said. “But when they even specified where to place the flag patches, I wondered if we could really pull it off.”
Stitch in time
Even with 15 years of experience, Shin said the task ranked among the most difficult her company had ever faced.
That is because the front panels of structured golf caps are hard and curved, a challenge for conventional overlock machines used to stitch patches onto fabric. “To stitch patches on that part, you normally have to press the cap down onto a flat surface, which ruins its shape,” she said.
The solution came from an unexpected source: a rarely used piece of equipment known as a post-bed sewing machine. Common in shoe and leather repair, it allows stitching on curved surfaces without flattening them.
“The machine costs more than 3 million won (US$2,160), and we didn’t have one,” Shin said. “But without it, we couldn’t do the job – so we bought one immediately and had it delivered the next day.”
The machine worked. It allowed the team to securely attach both the American and Korean flags to the front of the hat without deforming its shape.
The ministry had sent the initial design mock-up, created using ChatGPT, via email on July 22. A few days later, as Masga gained traction in Washington as a potential framework for tariff cooperation, negotiators urgently requested the physical hats.

By July 27, Moja Factory was racing against time. “We knew this was a matter of national importance, so we just pushed forward,” Shin said.
Rather than custom-producing new hats, they selected plain red golf caps already in stock – in line with the ministry’s request to echo Trump’s Maga hat in both style and colour. The design team worked overtime, adjusting the angle and placement of each letter in the slogan using actual embroidery tests.
On July 29, a ministry official picked up the finished caps in person. According to government sources, 10 hats in total were hand-carried to Washington, D.C., in cooperation with Korean Air, arriving within 24 hours, just in time for use at the negotiating table.
The Masga slogan, and the hat bearing it, had been conceived in early June by the ministry’s Shipbuilding and Offshore Plant Division as a way to encapsulate the benefits of US-South Korea cooperation in shipbuilding. The team had explored several designs, eventually settling on the red cap with both national flags and white embroidery.
If it weren’t for shipbuilding, the negotiations would’ve stayed at an impasse
Presidential policy chief Kim Yong-bum
According to presidential policy chief Kim Yong-bum, who led the Korean negotiation team, the project played a critical role in breaking through stalled talks.
Appearing on KBS’ Sunday Diagnosis on Sunday, Kim said: “If it weren’t for shipbuilding, the negotiations would’ve stayed at an impasse.” He brought the Masga hat into the studio, saying: “We poured our energy into making a symbol like this.”
Although only five hats were requested for the immediate round of talks, Shin said producing them felt like the culmination of her career.
“Honestly, we were just doing what we always do – making hats. But I never imagined that our work would play a role in something this important for the country,” she said. “This Masga hat is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
This article was first published by The Korea Times


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How this red cap sewed up US-South Korea trade deal

The Magsa cap used to convince the US to sign a tariff deal with South Korea. Photo: Yonhap/CFP

The hat was designed to echo Donald Trump’s iconic red Maga cap. Photo: Moja Factory

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South Korean President Lee Jae-myung is expected to visit Washington next month. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

Behind Trump’s South Korea deal, a plan to transform global shipbuilding

A ship is under construction at the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Ulsan Shipyard in South Korea. Seoul has pledged US$150 billion to help the United States revive its shipbuilding industry. Photo: Reuters

Ships are under construction at the China Merchants Industry Jinling Shipyard in China. The dominance of China’s shipyards has become a concern for the United States, which is trying to revive American shipbuilding. Photo: AFP

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Shipbuilding at Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering in Geoje. South Korea can offer its shipbuilding expertise to the US as part of bilateral trade talks, analysts say. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Created through AI, the red golf hat was made in just a week at a small Seoul factory in time for the urgent trade negotiations


Created through AI, the red golf hat was made in just a week at a small Seoul factory in time for the urgent trade negotiations.


How this red cap sewed up US-South Korea trade deal

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Created through AI, the red golf hat was made in just a week at a small Seoul factory in time for the urgent trade negotiations

Created through AI, the red golf hat was made in just a week at a small Seoul factory in time for the urgent trade negotiations