The agreement aims to develop industrial and technological cooperation between South Korea and the United States in the military and civilian sectors
Seoul – Hd Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), South Korea’s main shipbuilder, and the American HII (Huntington Ingalls Industries) have signed a new strategic cooperation agreement to expand collaboration in the shipbuilding and repair sectors, with the goal of serving the U.S. Navy and the commercial market.
The agreement, signed during the Apec forum, represents a step forward in the partnership started in 2025 within the framework of the “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again” initiative, supported by Seoul and Washington. South Korea has committed to investing 150 billion dollars in American shipbuilding, part of a larger 350 billion dollar plan aimed at strengthening industrial cooperation between the two countries.
The agreement provides for joint investments to enhance the production capacity of US shipbuilding and collaborations on engineering, research, development and technological innovation. HII and Hyundai also intend to explore “strategic teaming” opportunities to optimize construction costs and timelines.
Eric Chewning, executive vice president of HII, stated that the partnership marks “the beginning of a deeper collaboration between our companies and our countries, capable of transforming American military and commercial shipbuilding.”
The cooperation fits into the context of the competition for the U.S. Navy’s new logistic ships, for which HII and HHI are applying together, combining HII’s experience with the U.S. Navy and Hyundai’s know-how in building auxiliary ships — including the Hmnzs Endeavour (1987) and Aotearoa (2020) for the Royal New Zealand Navy.
Hyundai, certified in 2024 to participate in U.S. Navy Mro (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) tenders, began in September 2025 the first maintenance intervention on the support ship Usns Alan Shepard at the Ulsan shipyard, confirming the intention to strengthen operational support for the US Navy in the Indo-Pacific area.
