This 2025 photo shows a Make America Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA) cap, which features a slogan created by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources to convey the message of cooperation in the shipbuilding sector during South Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations. Yonhap

SEOUL/WASHINGTON — South Korea and the United States on Thursday launched a shipbuilding cooperation center in Washington to facilitate the planned $150 billion investment in the U.S. shipbuilding sector that Seoul committed to under last year's bilateral trade and investment deal.

Senior officials and industry leaders from the two countries joined an event marking the opening of the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Center (KUSPC), a platform to advance the "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA)" initiative aimed at revitalizing America's shipbuilding industry.

The opening came two months after the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in May to establish the center and strengthen bilateral shipbuilding cooperation.

In his welcoming remarks, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan called the center a symbol of South Korea's "strong" commitment to supporting America's shipbuilding industry.