US looks to South Korea as it tries to revive shipbuilding and catch up to China
South Korea as it tries to boost shipbuilding capacity in response to the 'desperate reality' of
China's rapid navy build-up , a move that could strengthen US power projection in the region, analysts say.
Advertisement
South Korean shipbuilding giant HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) on Monday said it had signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate with US firm Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).
HHI said the 'ship alliance' was signed during this week's Sea Air Space 2025 defence exhibition in Washington. It said the aim was to 'maximise the production efficiency of shipbuilding, while sharing know-how and capabilities to improve shipbuilding costs and delivery times'.
'We expect that cooperation between the representative shipbuilding companies of Korea and the US, who are blood allies, will not only develop the shipbuilding industry of both countries but also greatly contribute to strengthening security cooperation,' said Joo Won-ho, chief executive of naval and special shipbuilding at HHI.
The cooperation will include promoting process automation and the introduction of robots and artificial intelligence to build a digital shipyard, according to the HHI statement.
HII and HHI, two of the world's leading shipbuilders, signed a memorandum of understanding this week during the Sea Air Space expo in Washington. Photo: Handout
HHI is one of the world's largest shipbuilders, with a market share of about 10 per cent, according to its website. It has the capacity to build naval surface and underwater combatants and auxiliary vessels.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTHK
16 hours ago
- RTHK
'HK can play key role in burgeoning space economy'
'HK can play key role in burgeoning space economy' Professor Alfred Ho calls for collaboration among sectors in developing a space economy in Hong Kong. Photo: RTHK Hong Kong can foster collaboration between different sectors to develop a space economy locally, researchers said. That call came in a report, titled "Soaring into Space: Exploring the Industrial Opportunities of the New Space Economy for Hong Kong", which was jointly released by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and City University. The dean of the university's college of liberal arts and social sciences, Alfred Ho, says Hong Kong's biggest advantages lie in its researchers at different universities that draw talent from the mainland and overseas and being a financial centre and having a good legal system. "I think Hong Kong can lead and also coordinate many forces and interests to participate in the new space economy," the professor said. For instance, the report suggests that Hong Kong fully leverage opportunities presented by the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park to collaborate on resource and research developments. Ho added that since the space economy – which is still in its infancy and can involve the use of space technology by either governments or firms for such purposes as better satellite images for agricultural production – concerns industries from land development to even marine-related economic activities, Hong Kong can play the role of connecting all these sectors. He says institutions and companies are doing research right now individually, but that they need to work together in order to advance the space economy. "We are in a very initial stage, hopefully our report will kick-start some discussion." First released online in January, the report was updated as more places such as the Middle East and the European Union started to invest in the space economy.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Cybersecurity crime losses in Hong Kong up 15% year on year in first half of 2025
Financial losses through cybersecurity crimes in Hong Kong hit HK$3.04 billion (US$387.3 million) in the first half of 2025, marking a nearly 15 per cent year-on-year increase, official figures have shown. Police on Thursday also highlighted the problem of hacking activities, with financial losses from such attacks surging more than tenfold to HK$39.4 million in the first six months of 2025, up from HK$3.3 million in the same period last year, despite a drop in the number of cases. The latest figures were revealed as the city's Digital Policy Office introduced key initiatives for promoting cybersecurity in the second half of the year. Raymond Lam Cheuk-ho, chief superintendent of the cybersecurity and technology crime bureau, noted a heightened level of digital threats in the current landscape. 'We observed a slight decline in hacker attack numbers, but a significant surge in financial losses, which indicates escalating threats,' he said. Lam cited the case of a local financial institution targeted by hackers in June, which resulted in the theft of over 3 million units of stablecoin and other cryptocurrencies.
AllAfrica
2 days ago
- AllAfrica
US tariff deal clears way for Korea's stablecoin dream
TOKYO – As new South Korean President Lee Jae Myung sets out to revamp Asia's fourth-biggest economy, he can cross direct US tariff risks off the list of possible spoilers. Korea's tariff deal with the US removes a gigantic element of uncertainty as Lee gets to work raising Korea's economic game. Though the 15% tax on US-bound goods will hurt, getting the uncertainty factor out of the way will enable Korea Inc to move forward. 'It is a case of the worst avoided, with a pinch of relief removing Korea-specific tariff risks,' says Kathleen Oh, chief Korea economist at Morgan Stanley. 'It puts Korea on level ground with its export competitors in the US, especially for autos.' Eurasia Group analyst Jeremy Chan notes that Korea's agreement hews closely to the deal signed by Japan one week ago and is in line with his view that major US trading partners will be handed around 15% tariff rates. Korea's US$350 billion investment fund mirrors the $550 billion fund announced in Japan's agreement, Chan notes. About 90% of the profits from the fund will reportedly go to the US—the same ratio that Japan received—which Korean officials interpret to mean that 90% of the fund's profits will be re-invested in the US. Like Japan, Chan notes, Korea's fund will be made up almost entirely of loans and guarantees, with direct investment comprising only a very small portion. Korea's commitment to purchase $100 billion in US energy exports will likely include offtake agreements for the Alaska LNG pipeline project that Japan is also exploring. Now Lee will likely have the bandwidth to focus on his newest preoccupation: digital assets. Korean lawmakers are brawling over stablecoins, and the brouhaha couldn't be better for the nation's sudden embrace of the global digital assets boom. The clash is less about whether Korea should become one of the region's crypto-friendly economies in Asia. It's about how to implement the new president's vision for the broad-based issuance of won-backed stablecoins and give digital asset innovation a prominent place globally. Korea joins Hong Kong in efforts to ramp up issuance via legislation. These legislative moves aim to avoid putting the cart before the proverbial horse in a nascent market sure to upend global currency dynamics. Creating trusted and transparent regulatory and licensing regimes will be key to building broader acceptance for the industry. In Seoul's case, Lee's Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the opposition People Power Party (PPP) are pushing competing stablecoin bills in the National Assembly. DPK member Ahn Do-gil introduced the Act on the Issuance and Distribution of Value-Stable Digital Assets, while the PPP's Kim Eun-hye proposed the Act on Payment Innovation Using Value-Fixed Digital Assets. Lee's push marks his first real economic pivot from the disgraced Yoon Suk Yeol administration. In early April, the courts removed Yoon from office. This was five months after his reckless martial law declaration in December, for which PPP member Yoon was impeached. When Lee's DPK won election in June, the immediate goal was to make up for lost time to stabilize Asia's fourth-biggest economy. Several months of political wrangling over Yoon's fate were a lost period for moves to raise Korea's competitive game. In the interim, the economy shrank in the first quarter as the Kospi stock market gyrated. That left the Bank of Korea largely in the driver's seat. Yet Lee's stablecoin focus suggests his administration has hit the ground running. Typically, Korean regulators are among the most cautious in Asia. All of which makes the Lee administration's stablecoin gambit all the more unexpected. As DPK lawmaker Min Byung-deok, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, puts it, legislation now under consideration would allow non-financial companies to issue won-denominated stablecoins — and to do so beyond the Bank of Korea. The catch is that digital assets would operate under a clear legal framework. Another catch: the BOK may still require some convincing. It worries Lee's stablecoin vision will increase capital outflow risks. Among legislators, provisions would also facilitate security token offerings (STOs) and pave the way for the creation of, and transacting in, spot market exchange-traded funds (ETFs) backed by virtual assets. 'The STO bill will first go through the standing committee next month,' Min says. Min adds that the presidential office's chief policy aide, Kim Yong-beom, a blockchain expert, is 'largely supportive of the bills.' Korea isn't setting the stage for a crypto free-for-all. It plans to tweak strict foreign currency transaction laws accordingly and strengthen oversight in the crypto market by the BOK and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The BOK must be empowered to play its role in maintaining financial stability,' says DPK member Ahn. 'If stablecoins are used abroad, they become a form of foreign exchange. That means the finance ministry needs a legal foundation to exercise its authority.' Ahn says the process will also be coordinated by the Financial Services Commission. President Lee's team has ordered up a task force on stablecoin implementation. Lee's timing with these crypto reforms could be particularly favorable, as Korea Exchange is exploring digital ETFs, hoping to allow institutions to begin trading them as early as the third quarter. Korea also joins Hong Kong in enjoying something of a first-mover advantage in one of the hottest areas of global finance, one still arguably in the frontier stages. According to Paul Chan, Hong Kong's financial security, the global market value of stablecoins is estimated at about $240 billion, with trading volume topping $20 trillion in 2024. In Korea's case, voters gravitated to Lee's crypto-friendly platform. As of the end of 2024, Koreans held some $74.5 billion worth of digital assets. On the campaign trail, Lee pledges to legalize and nurture digital ETFs, promote the widespread adoption of Korean won-backed stablecoins, streamline regulations to prevent capital flight and even allow the massive $884 billion National Pension Service to invest in digital assets. Yet Lee must multitask in a hurry. Lee inherited an economy under pressure from global tariffs. Despite the US tariff deal, Trump has yet to reach a deal with China. Even as Seoul takes a breather after notching tis tariff deal, it must brace for the shock waves if China refuses to grant Trump the 'grand bargain' deal he seeks. That could see Trump turning his tariff policies up to 11, slamming Korea's open, trade-reliant economy. Over the last six months, BOK Governor Rhee Chang-yong's rate cuts have been the glue holding a fragile economy together. Yet as the BOK cuts rates, it's been limited by domestic constraints. Further rate cuts might encourage households to up borrowing activity. Korea's household debt-to-gross domestic product ratio of 91.7% was the second highest among major nations at the end of 2024. That's the second highest among 38 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations. Any step lower in BOK rates risks incentivizing households to increase debt, adding to Korea's biggest imbalances. The vacuum Yoon created left BOK's team squarely in the driver's seat. More and more, the central bank took the lead in managing one of the globe's most open and dynamic major economies.
