[Anchor]
In the United States, there is a law mandating that warships must be built on U.S. soil. However, President Trump has decided to exempt foreign companies that invest in the U.S. shipbuilding industry from this requirement. As this can also apply to South Korean shipbuilding companies, it is being interpreted as a green light for the Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation MASGA project.
Reporter Kim Young-a has the details.
[Reporter]
In a memorandum signed on the 13th local time, U.S. President Trump allowed foreign shipbuilding companies to build up to two U.S. warships in their home countries.
This is limited to foreign companies that either build a new shipyard in the United States or acquire ownership or a majority stake in an existing U.S. shipyard.
Trump also attached conditions that all ships beyond the initial two must be built in the U.S. employing American workers, and that technology must be transferred.
It is assessed that the only company in the world capable of meeting these conditions is South Korea's Hanwha Ocean, which acquired Philly Shipyard in the U.S. in 2024.
The shipbuilding industry expects that various administrative procedures related to Philly Shipyard will accelerate and order volumes will increase significantly.
In late July, President Trump publicly mentioned "South Korean companies" while emphasizing the strengthening of naval power.
[Trump / U.S. President (on the 15th of last month): We will look at companies from South Korea and other nations. We will also purchase ships built abroad.]
The move is aimed at securing warships and rebuilding the shipbuilding industry urgently to check China, which is expanding maritime hegemony backed by its world-leading shipbuilding industry.
The intention is to quickly build initial quantities in foreign countries equipped with skilled technology and infrastructure, and then rebuild the U.S. shipbuilding industry using the transferred technology.
The 150 billion dollar Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation project, MASGA, is expected to gain momentum.
The presidential office stated that it understands the U.S. administration is continuously pursuing concrete measures to rebuild the U.S. shipbuilding industry through this memorandum, and expressed expectations to materialize cooperation plans.
[Video Editing: Chae Cheol-ho]
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