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U.S. and South Korea Launch Shipbuilding Partnership to Boost Domestic Maritime Industry

The Department of Commerce and South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources this week established the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Initiative to strengthen bilateral cooperation in commercial shipbuilding and maritime manufacturing.

A Shipbuilding Partnership Center, funded and staffed by Seoul, will open in Washington later this year. The center will facilitate collaboration between government agencies, industry players, research institutions, and universities from both nations. It will coordinate workforce development, shipyard productivity improvements, technical exchanges, and foreign direct investment in the U.S. maritime industrial base.

South Korea ranks as the world's second-largest commercial vessel builder and already operates a shipyard in Philadelphia through Hanwha. The initiative aligns with the Trump administration's Maritime Action Plan to revitalize domestic shipbuilding capacity and reflects broader efforts to strengthen allied industrial capabilities in advanced manufacturing.