South Korea and the United States have agreed to establish a shipbuilding cooperation center and strengthen bilateral cooperation in the shipbuilding sector.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Initiative at the U.S. Department of Commerce building in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday (local time). The MOU was signed by Park Jung-sung, Deputy Minister for Trade at MOTIE, and William Kimmitt, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, with MOTIE Minister Kim Jung-kwan and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in attendance.
Under the MOU, the two ministries agreed to promote corporate cooperation projects including joint research and development, technology exchanges, and direct investment, and to cooperate on workforce training and exchanges as well as information sharing related to the shipbuilding industry.
In particular, the two ministries agreed to pursue the establishment of a Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Center in the United States to facilitate these activities. The center will be located in Washington, D.C., and will focus on building local networks for cooperation, tracking policy trends, and supporting collaborative activities between companies in the two countries, while also supporting detailed programs such as improving productivity at U.S. shipyards and workforce training.
"Through this MOU, the two countries have confirmed their commitment to advancing Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation, along with U.S. support for establishing the center," a MOTIE official said. "We expect that specific cooperation projects based on the needs of companies in both countries will be identified and implemented through the center to be established."
The official added, "We will carry out follow-up procedures such as establishing a local corporation, securing office space, and dispatching personnel without disruption to open the center swiftly, and will work to produce tangible results."
