S. Korea working with US to address legal barriers to shipbuilding cooperation: DAPA chief

South Korea is working with the United States to address legal US barriers to bilateral shipbuilding cooperation, the head of Seoul's arms acquisition agency said Wednesday, as Seoul seeks to support Washington's push to revitalize the American shipbuilding industry.

Seok Jong-gun, minister of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, made the remarks during a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, pointing to a set of barriers, such as the Byrnes-Tollefson Amendment that bars foreign entities from building major components, including the hull of Navy vessels.

"When the two countries pursue shipbuilding cooperation that both want, there are legal barriers," he said, noting that he plans to discuss the barriers during his planned meetings with senior officials from the Pentagon and the Department of the Navy.

He added, "There apparently is a need to quickly address this at a leadership level in the US in a forward-looking way."

In particular, the minister noted difficulties in meeting the US demand for shipbuilding cooperation through the only South Korea-run shipyard in the United States -- Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, operated by Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean.

"We have already made various proposals (to the US for shipbuilding cooperation)," he said. "One way is for South Korea to supply various ship components with the priority given to the US We can also manufacture (parts) of ships in blocks, then bring them to the US and assemble them in the US."

Other methods include building a naval vessel with only minimal sailing functions and then transporting it to America to add all sensitive security features and combat systems to it in the US.

"We need to coordinate the proposals we have put forward to find a way that can satisfy the US demand," he said. "Toward that end, there might be a situation that calls for the higher-ups (in the US) to make a determination quickly."

US President Donald Trump's administration is keen on rebuilding America's shipbuilding sector as China is known to have over 230 times the shipbuilding capacity of the US in the midst of an intensifying Sino-US rivalry.

South Korea has proposed to the US a large-scale cooperation project, dubbed "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again."

The project includes constructing new shipyards in the US, nurturing shipbuilding personnel and re-establishing related supply chains as well as building American ships and cooperating on maintenance, repair and overhaul projects. (Yonhap)