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U.S. blasts Chinese sanctions on Hanwha Ocean, says it 'stands firmly with Korea'

Published: 17 Oct. 2025, 15:05

A national security multipurpose ship is docked at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Aug. 27. [NEWS1]

The Trump administration on Thursday condemned China’s decision to sanction five subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean, calling it an attempt to undermine Korea-U.S. cooperation in shipbuilding and vowing that “the United States stands firmly with Korea.”

"China’s targeting of Hanwha is an irresponsible attempt to interfere with a private company’s operations and undermine U.S.-ROK [Republic of Korea] cooperation on revitalizing American shipbuilding and manufacturing," a U.S. State Department spokesperson was quoted as saying by Reuters. "China’s actions [...] are the latest example in a long pattern of China’s attempts to coerce Korea.”

In 2024, Hanwha Group acquired the U.S.-based Philly Shipyard in a $100 million deal, expanding its footprint in the U.S. maritime sector.

Hanwha Ocean has since become a flagship company representing the Make American Shipbuilding Great Again, or MASGA, project — a joint Korea-U.S. initiative to revive the U.S. shipbuilding industry. President Lee Jae Myung visited the Philly Shipyard during his trip to the United States in August.

On Tuesday, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced sanctions against Hanwha Ocean subsidiaries, claiming they had “supported U.S. government investigations that harmed China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.”

The targeted entities include Hanwha Philly Shipyard, Hanwha Shipping, Hanwha Ocean USA International, Hanwha Shipping Holdings and HS USA Holdings. The ministry said all five companies are now banned from conducting transactions with any organization or individual in China.

President Lee Jae Myung applauds after signing the guestbook during his visit to Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia on Aug. 26. [YONHAP]

The U.S. government’s statement came the same day that senior Korean and U.S. officials met at the White House to discuss ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in the shipbuilding industry.

Presidential director of national policy Kim Yong-beom and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan — both visiting Washington for follow-up trade talks — met with Russell Vought, director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building for about 50 minutes.

“We had a constructive discussion about various aspects of the MASGA initiative,” both Kims said following the meeting.

When asked whether China’s sanctions against Hanwha Ocean had been raised, Kim Jung-kwan replied, “That didn’t come up — we mainly talked about specific projects under the MASGA framework.” Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo also attended the meeting.

Presidential director of national policy Kim Yong-beom, left, and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan visit the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington on Oct. 16 to meet with officials from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). [YONHAP]

Asked whether the OMB meeting could yield tangible progress amid ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries, Kim Yong-beom said, “The OMB is not a negotiating body, but we used the meeting to hear the U.S. position on one of our key joint projects.”

Later that day, Minister Kim met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to continue talks aimed at finalizing a bilateral trade agreement.

Although the two sides reached a broad framework deal on July 30, negotiations have stalled over differences regarding the composition of Korea’s proposed $350 billion investment package in the United States. However, with the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju approaching at the end of October, there are signs of renewed momentum toward an agreement.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KANG TAE-HWA [[email protected]]