Latest news with #KangHwan-seug
Korea Herald
10-08-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Proposed US shipbuilding law reforms could put wind in MASGA sails
Moves to revise century-old shipmaking laws aim to strengthen US and allied naval capabilities Korea's 'Make American Shipbuilding Great Again' strategy, or 'MASGA," is gaining momemtum as the two countries' authorities recently saw eye to eye on the need to revise the United States' legislation to allow more practical shipbuilding collaboration. According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration on Friday, Vice Minister Kang Hwan-seug met with Jason Potter, assistant secretary of the US Navy's research, development and acquisition, in Washington earlier in the week and discussed cooperation in naval shipbuilding and maintenance, repair and overhaul services. The Korean authorities told Potter about ways its shipbuilding industry could help maintain and strengthen the US Navy, such as by producing block modules for ships and delivering them to US shipyards for final assembly. The DAPA said the two sides agreed that regulations, such as the Byrnes-Tollefson Act whih requires US warships to be built at US shipyards, need to be eased to allow more shipbuilding cooperation. They decided to set up a new working-level group to discuss further specifics for that matter. US lawmakers have also been taking action to expand shipbuilding ties with US allies. US Reps. Ed Case of Hawaii and Jim Moylan of Guam proposed the Merchant Marine Allies Partnership bill on Aug. 1. The bill targets Merchant Marine Act of 1920, known as the Jones Act, which limits domestic shipping to US-built, US-flagged vessels that are owned by US citizens and crewed by permanent US residents. The newly proposed bill exempts the current 50 percent import duty on major vessel modifications, as long as the work is performed at shipyards in US allies. The legislation would allow ships built in those nations to qualify for the US domestic trade while laying out a pathway for foreign-built and foreign-crewed vessels operated by companies in allied countries to take part in US domestic trade. 'According to the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, maritime employment in the US shipbuilding and repair sector has declined by 15 percent over the past 23 years,' said Case. 'The Merchant Marine Allies Partnership Act is a bipartisan, commonsense step toward maritime policy that reflects 21st-century challenges and opportunities.' US Sen. Mike Lee of Utah presented Ensuring Naval Readiness Act in February this year, aiming to authorize exceptions to the prohibition on the construction of US Naval fleets at foreign shipyards. Meanwhile, Lee So-young, a military judge, pointed out that the Korean government and companies should take proactive measures to back up such efforts to amend US laws. 'Stakeholders in the US shipbuilding sector realize that outsourcing the US naval warships is a serious threat to the US shipbuilding industry and oppose the idea while demanding more investments in the US shipbuilding infrastructure,' said Lee in an article published in the Journal of the Korea Association of Defense Industry Studies. 'The (Korean) government needs to strongly lobby and make an appeal that it is better for the US if Korean shipbuilders take charge of building US warships. Korea should raise US law experts and get advices on what steps to take during each phase of legislation.' Lee added that Korean shipbuilders should look to secure an edge over Japanese and Indian rivals in advance as the competition is expected to heat up once the US warship market becomes open for overseas shipyards in allied countries. Korea previously credited the MASGA initiative as one of the key factors in cutting the final tariff deal with the US at the end of last month as US President Donald Trump repeatedly stressed his administration's drive to revive the American shipbuilding sector. Seoul pledged a $150 billion shipbuilding cooperation fund for Korean shipbuilders to invest in the US and support the American shipbuilding sector's revitlaization.
Korea Herald
02-06-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
S. Korea pitches submarines, howitzers, trainer jets at Canadian defense exhibition
A senior arms agency official visited a Canadian defense exhibition last week for talks on possible exports of South Korean submarines, trainer jets and self-propelled howitzers, the state arms procurement agency said Monday. During his three-day visit to Ottawa from Tuesday, Kang Hwan-seug, vice minister of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, met Judith Bennett, Canada's associate assistant deputy defense minister of materiel, on the sidelines of the CANSEC defense exhibition to brief her on the advantages of South Korea's submarines. Canada is seeking to acquire new conventionally powered submarines to replace its aging vessels, with South Korean shipbuilders competing for the project reportedly worth around $20 billion. Kang also met other officials at the event and pitched the K-9 self-propelled howitzer for the Canadian Army's modernization plan and the T-50 trainer jet for the Royal Canadian Air Force's pilot training program, according to DAPA. (Yonhap)
