South Korea and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to strengthen bilateral shipbuilding cooperation. The deal forms part of a trade agreement under which Seoul pledged $150 billion in U.S. shipbuilding investments.
The signing took place in Washington. Park Jung-sung, deputy minister for trade at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, and U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade William Kimmitt signed the document. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick oversaw the ceremony.
Under the MOU the two countries will establish the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Initiative. The platform will promote commercial shipbuilding, workforce development, industrial modernization and maritime manufacturing investment. A Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Center is expected to open in Washington later this year.
Activities will include attracting foreign direct investment into the U.S. maritime industrial base, workforce training and shipyard productivity projects. Kim and Lutnick also discussed South Korea’s investment projects tied to last year’s trade deal.
Kim said upon arriving in Washington on Wednesday that the first projects can be announced after a relevant law takes effect in June.
