Korea-US shipbuilding cooperation center opens, anchoring $136b MASGA project

About 200 trillion won ($136 billion) in Korea-US shipbuilding cooperation has found its operational base. The Korea-US Shipbuilding Partnership Center will serve as a forward hub for applying South Korea's advanced shipbuilding technology in the United States, leading efforts in shipyard modernization, workforce development and technology cooperation.

South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the US Department of Commerce jointly held the inauguration ceremony of the Korea-US Shipbuilding Partnership Center (KUSPC) at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Thursday (local time), with Minister Kim Jung-kwan and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in attendance. The two countries had earlier agreed to direct $150 billion of a planned $350 billion in US-bound investment toward shipbuilding cooperation, and in May signed a memorandum of understanding on the Korea-US Shipbuilding Cooperation Partnership Initiative.

The center will be housed in the Washington office of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and will operate from 2026 to 2028 with a budget of about 19.9 billion won. It will be responsible for running programs to improve the skill level of the shipbuilding workforce in the United States, supporting the MASGA project, conducting trend analysis and local networking, and strengthening bilateral technology and research and development cooperation in the shipbuilding industry.

More than 130 government, parliamentary and business representatives from both countries attended the ceremony, including Minister Kim and Secretary Lutnick, South Korean Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha, National Assembly members of the Korea-US Parliamentary Friendship League, acting US Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao and US Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel. South Korea's shipbuilding industry was represented by Kim Hyung-kwan, chief executive of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering; Choi Sung-an, chief executive of Samsung Heavy Industries; Jeong In-seop, president of Hanwha Ocean; and Yoo Sang-cheol, chief executive of HJ Shipbuilding & Construction.

In his welcoming remarks, Minister Kim said KUSPC is "a cooperation platform in the shipbuilding sector unlike any other in the world, and a symbol of Korea's firm will and commitment to help rebuild the US shipbuilding industry," pledging active investment. In his keynote address, Lutnick said "we will remove regulatory barriers so that you can build in America," adding, "it's not about process but results, not about promises but production."

A total of 15 MOUs were signed between domestic institutions and between companies and institutions of both countries at the center's opening. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, Samsung Heavy Industries and other major shipbuilders, together with KUSPC and the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO), formed "Team Korea" and agreed to cooperate for the mutual growth of the Korea-US shipbuilding industry and to advance into the US market. Five MOUs covered supply chain cooperation, three addressed workforce development in the United States, and six covered joint Korea-US technology development.

South Korea's top three shipbuilders also agreed to accelerate their push into the US market through a range of partnerships. HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering signed a main contract with engineering firm Siemens Digital Industries Software for the introduction of a "next-generation marine platform." The platform integrates all shipbuilding processes into a single data set based on AI and digital technology using 3D models, enabling the same information to be used at every stage. This allows real-time transmission of design changes and current process status at a shipyard to production sites and the supply chain, enabling optimal decision-making.

As part of this effort, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering plans to build a virtual shipyard identical to an actual yard, simulating real work processes and equipment operations. The company also plans to cooperate with US-based Frasers Industries on yard productivity diagnostics and the application of automation technology to support modernization of the facility. Beyond shipbuilding, HD Hyundai Samho signed a contract to supply four state-of-the-art port cranes to Washington United Terminals, the operator of the Port of Tacoma, as part of efforts to modernize US ports.

Hanwha Ocean, the only South Korean shipbuilder with a production base in the United States, signed a professional services contract with US naval vessel design firm Gibbs & Cox for the joint design of a Global Fast Sealift (GFS) vessel. Through its Philadelphia shipyard, Hanwha also signed an MOU with Delaware County Community College on shipbuilding technology education and development cooperation, as well as an MOU with the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce on supply chain cooperation in the shipbuilding industry.

Hanwha is regarded as a core partner in the MASGA project, rapidly expanding cooperation — including into the security domain — from its US production base. Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, praised Hanwha's investment in the Philadelphia shipyard as "the beginning of the rebuilding of American shipbuilding."

Hanwha's Philadelphia shipyard recently won a contract for a Missile Range Instrumentation Vessel (MRIV), essential to building the US next-generation missile defense system known as the Golden Dome. The yard is also participating in the concept design phase of the US Next Generation Logistics Ship (NGLS) program — the first instance of a Korean company performing a US Navy vessel program through a US-based shipyard since the MASGA project was launched.

Hanwha Ocean has also completed its response to a US Department of Defense request for information on combat ships and replenishment vessels, and has accumulated six US Navy maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) contracts — the first and most among South Korean shipbuilders — leading the way in Korea-US shipbuilding alliance outcomes. Hanwha plans to invest about $5 billion in the Philadelphia shipyard through a shipbuilding industry cooperation investment fund and other means, sharply raising its annual construction capacity to as many as 20 vessels.

Samsung Heavy Industries signed a strategic business cooperation agreement with US defense technology firm Saronic Technologies to cooperate on the development of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and the establishment of production infrastructure including robotics-based process automation. Samsung Heavy Industries also agreed to expand cooperation with Vigor Marine Group, its US MRO partner, and signed an agreement to establish a training center in the northwestern United States. The training center will be dedicated to securing welding and painting personnel essential to shipbuilding and repair.