Why South Korea Is Key to US Shipbuilding Strategy

The U.S. Navy desperately needs help. Today, it maintains fewer than 300 ships—a staggering fall from the 1,200 it boasted at the end of World War II.

The shipbuilding industry is in similar lackluster condition, having been in decline for decades.

Currently, the Navy operates only four shipyards, with all others having closed. Those that are active are old, underfunded, and in poor condition, making them unfit for the modern challenges and needs of the Navy.

The industry is over budget and behind schedule across the board.

Meanwhile, China has not only surpassed the U.S. shipbuilding industry, but dominates the global market. In 2024, China held 53.3% of the global market, while the U.S. had only 0.11%.

China’s industry has maximized efficiency, and it now has more new warships than the U.S. And it’s also rapidly closing the qualitative gap with the U.S.

China’s shipbuilding dominance isn’t just a bad look. It harms U.S. economic opportunity and commerce, produces significant military threats, and further enables China’s global ambitions.

The time to take back American shipbuilding is now.

Under the Trump administration, this effort has already commenced. While lawmakers work to pass the SHIPS for America Act, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order authorizing a wide range of initiatives to restore American maritime dominance by directing capital, cutting red tape, and addressing workforce challenges.

But the U.S. should add another prong to its shipbuilding strategy; namely, a partnership with South Korea, which hosts the world’s second-largest shipbuilding industry.

The U.S. and South Korean alliance dates back to the Korean War in the 1950s and, to date, has mostly centered on deterring North Korea. Now, though, this partnership has begun to extend into shipbuilding.

Last year, South Korean company Hanwa acquired the Philly Shipyard and signed a contract to repair a Navy vessel. More recently, South Korea’s Hyundai signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S.’s largest military shipbuilding company, Huntington Ingalls.

If development continues, this budding partnership between the U.S. and South Korea promises to play a significant role in revitalizing the American shipbuilding industry.

There are several specific ways the U.S. can work with South Korea to address problems in the shipbuilding industry.

As it did with Hanwa, the U.S. should explore reopening its closed shipyards for South Korea and other allies to invest in. Final ownership is negotiable; what is nonnegotiable is that the U.S. must have more domestic shipyards up and running. This will produce an end effect similar to that when a company like Toyota, Kia, or Mercedes-Benz opens a car manufacturing plant somewhere in the United States, bringing jobs to the region and increasing U.S. manufacturing output.

The U.S. can also award contracts to South Korean and other allies for various shipbuilding projects. This will increase competition within U.S. industry, potentially producing improved quality and speed.

Finally, the U.S. should incorporate partnership with South Korea in the Maritime Action Plan requested in Trump’s executive order. This will allow Trump’s advisers to continue dialogue with South Korea and its shipbuilding companies via the recognition that they play a vital role in U.S. shipbuilding strategy.

Through this sort of cooperation with allies, the U.S. will be able to revitalize its Navy, restoring American sea power to its former greatness.

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