The United States has asked major South Korean shipbuilders to provide information on their ability to build naval vessels, including destroyers and fleet replenishment ships.
The U.S. Department of Defense and the Navy recently sent requests for information to HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean. The companies submitted details last month on their destroyer design capabilities and shipbuilding capacity, according to industry sources.
For a separate request covering medium-sized naval tankers, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries also provided responses.
An industry official said the responses included information on shipyard capabilities, construction records, design workforce and expertise, and annual shipbuilding capacity. The official asked not to be named.
Under the U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulation, a request for information is used by the government to collect market information, including pricing and delivery terms, for planning purposes.
The requests followed discussions between U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during last month’s Group of Seven summit. Trump asked whether South Korean shipbuilders could quickly build 10 U.S. Navy vessels, and Lee said they had the capability and would make their best efforts.
The move has increased expectations that South Korea and the United States could advance shipbuilding cooperation under the Make American Shipbuilding Great Again initiative, known as MASGA. The initiative was announced during the Lee-Trump summit in October last year.
Under the agreement, South Korea allocated $150 billion of its $350 billion U.S. investment package to shipbuilding projects covering naval and commercial vessels, as well as related supply chains.
South Korean shipbuilders have since increased efforts to enter the U.S. naval shipbuilding market, where foreign participation is restricted by the Jones Act and other regulations.
Hanwha Ocean has been seeking licenses to build U.S. Navy destroyers after acquiring Philadelphia Shipyard in Pennsylvania. HD Hyundai has formed a partnership with Huntington Ingalls Industries, while Samsung Heavy Industries has partnered with General Dynamics NASSCO.
