Home > Business > Industry

HD Hyundai hosts forum on enhancing shipbuilding cooperation between Korea, U.S.

Published: 24 Jun. 2025, 14:56 Updated: 24 Jun. 2025, 22:46

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Key participants from both Korea and the United States pose for a commemorative photo at the Korea?U.S. Leader’s Forum on Education and Research on Shipbuilding on June 24. [HD HYUNDAI]

HD Hyundai explored ways to enhance mutual cooperation with shipbuilding and maritime experts from Korea and the United States during the Korea–U.S. Leader’s Forum on Education and Research on Shipbuilding Tuesday.

The forum, hosted by the shipbuilding giant, was organized as a follow-up to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in July last year between HD Hyundai, Seoul National University (SNU) and the University of Michigan to promote talent development in the shipbuilding industry, according to HD Hyundai.

Held at HD Hyundai’s Global R&D Center in Pangyo, Gyeonggi, the forum was attended by distinguished guests including Andrew Gately, commercial minister-counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Korea, Lee Seung-ryeol, industrial policy deputy minister at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Chung Ki-sun, executive vice chairman of HD Hyundai.

In total, more than 40 shipbuilding and marine engineering specialists participated in the event, according to HD Hyundai.

The forum marked the first since the launch of the new Korean administration, and experts from both Seoul and Washington have gathered to discuss practical avenues for collaboration.

Chung Ki-sun, executive vice chairman of HD Hyundai, speaks during the opening ceremony of the Korea?U.S. Leader’s Forum on Education and Research on Shipbuilding on June 24. [HD HYUNDAI]

“This collaboration marks the beginning of a true maritime alliance — one that goes beyond talent exchange to sharing technologies and visions between Korea and the United States,” Chung said in his opening remarks during the event Tuesday. “Let us work together toward the growth and prosperity of both nations’ shipbuilding industries.”

“I find myself in awe of the remarkable capability of Korean shipyards to produce the world’s largest and most intricate vessels in record time,” said David Singer, professor of naval architecture and marine engineering at the University of Michigan. “Investing in talent is absolutely crucial for rejuvenating the U.S. shipbuilding industry, and the potential for expanding our collaboration with HD Hyundai is an exceptional opportunity we cannot afford to overlook.”

On the final day of the forum, to be held on Wednesday, discussions will focus on joint research themes, including “smart yard” technologies, aimed at the digital transformation in shipbuilding.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]