FROM NBC NEWS: On an island off its southern coast, South Korea is doing the kind of shipbuilding that President Donald Trump envisions for the United States.
The Hanwha Ocean shipyard, which covers an area the size of 900 football fields on the island of Geoje, churns out both commercial and military ships at a far faster rate than yards in the U.S., aided by the world’s largest dry dock and crane.
The U.S. ally has made shipbuilding a key pillar of its trade talks with the Trump administration, pitching it as “Make America Shipbuilding Great Again” as the United States struggles to revive a faltering industry.
Shipbuilding is a crucial economic and security issue for the U.S., which relies on ocean shipping for 80% of its international trade.
NBC News reports that it visited the Hanwha Ocean shipyard, saying “it was a hive of clanging and banging as different components were assembled and then lifted into place.
The USNS Charles Drew, from the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet, was on site for maintenance. The 14,000-ton cargo ship was docked there because, “It’s a lot more cost-effective for us to stay in the area,” according to Danny Beeler, the ship’s principal port engineer.
Beeler said they are able to get along done at the shipyard, adding that “sailing all the way back to the United States,” would cost millions of dollars in fuel alone.
Ship-building appears to be a particular passion for Trump.
“We’re not really building ships, and we’re going to start, and we’re going to have a very thriving shipbuilding industry,” he told executives last Wednesday in Gyeongju, South Korea, during his Asia tour.
.@SecScottBessent: “President Trump agreed… with the President of Korea on a HISTORIC deal that is going to bring shipbuilding back to the U.S. … This is what leadership looks like. When the U.S. leads, the world follows — and President Trump has been doing that.” pic.twitter.com/DoY10ND0pp
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 30, 2025
“Korea has an incredible shipbuilding industry, which we look forward to partnering with a lot more,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday.
“President Trump wants allies to be strong, and the Republic of Korea is a model ally.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says the U.S. and South Korea are boosting defense cooperation, including maintaining and repairing U.S. warships in Korea to harness its shipbuilding power.… pic.twitter.com/zlbaPN1o8H
— One America News (@OANN) November 4, 2025
While the U.S. military is required by law to build all its ships domestically, domestic production is challenging. We no longer dominate global shipbuilding, which reached its peak at the end of World War II, according to NBC News.
“All of our programs are a mess, to be honest,” said Navy Secretary John Phelan in June. “We are behind schedule and over budget. I think our best-performing one is six months late and 57% over budget.”
Cynthia Cook, a senior fellow in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, explained that “when less expensive foreign competition came along, for example, first from Japan, and then from Korea, and now from China, the U.S. shipbuilding industry was much less competitive in the commercial market.”
Now, the U.S. is looking for options.
On an island off its southern coast, South Korea is doing the kind of shipbuilding that President Trump envisions for the U.S. https://t.co/tuJ6F4wHND
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 4, 2025
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