Washington's first formal outreach to Korean shipbuilders since MASGA raises expectations for deeper naval cooperation Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania (Hanwha Group) The US has officially reached out to major South Korean shipbuilders to assess their naval vessel design and construction capabilities in a sign that Washington is looking to deepen shipbuilding cooperation with Seoul under the MASGA initiative.According to defense industry sources Wednesday, the Pentagon and the US Navy recently sent requests for information, or RFIs, to HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean for combat vessels. In response, the two companies submitted information last month on their destroyer design and construction capabilities.The two shipbuilders and Samsung Heavy Industries also submitted responses for a separate RFI on medium-sized oilers.Sources say the three companies submitted information on their shipyard capabilities, including construction records, design personnel and expertise, and annual shipbuilding capacity.Hanwha Ocean confirmed it had received and responded to the RFI, while HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries declined to confirm whether they had done so.An RFI is an initial information-gathering step used before a formal tender, allowing the US government to evaluate shipbuilders’ capabilities, pricing, technical feasibility and potential delivery terms.The RFI stage is not a formal tender and is not binding on either party. Still, industry officials see it as a sign of progress: This is the first time the US side has approached Korean shipyards through the RFI process since the Korea-US shipbuilding partnership under the “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again” initiative launched in August last year.Industry watchers say the responses may also have included details of the companies’ ongoing US cooperation projects.Hanwha Ocean acquired Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania in December 2024 for $100 million and is working through the licensing procedures needed to build combat ships in the US. HD Hyundai has formed a partnership with Huntington Ingalls Industries, the largest US military shipbuilder, to co-build the US Navy’s next-generation fleet auxiliary ships, and Samsung Heavy Industries has teamed up with General Dynamics NASSCO on US Navy shipbuilding and commercial projects.The RFI process is drawing attention because it comes after US President Donald Trump recently raised the possibility of having South Korea build US warships. President Lee Jae Myung said Trump asked during their meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit last month whether South Korea could quickly build 10 US naval vessels.Under the MASGA project, Seoul agreed last year to invest $150 billion to help revitalize the US shipbuilding industry, as part of its $350 billion investment package in the US.Still, major regulatory hurdles remain. The construction of US naval vessels at foreign shipyards is effectively restricted under the Byrnes-Tollefson Amendment, which limits the building of US Navy vessels outside the US.The latest RFI could be part of early US efforts to assess how those restrictions might be eased or worked around, observers say.The US Navy faces mounting pressure to expand and modernize its fleet amid China’s growing naval expansion. Last year, the US Navy announced that it aims to increase its naval fleet from 295 vessels at the end of 2024 to 381 by 2054 as part of efforts to strengthen its maritime power.To hit that target, the US would need to acquire 364 new vessels over the next 30 years, averaging roughly 12 ships annually. This would require an estimated annual shipbuilding budget of $40.1 billion through 2054, bringing total spending to an estimated $1 trillion.