The shipbuilding policy of South Korea's new government reshapes the global shipbuilding landscape

With the coming to power of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, the new South Korean government has elevated the shipbuilding industry to an unprecedented strategic level. The promotion of its related policies will have a profound impact on the future landscape of the world's shipbuilding industry.

The industry competition pattern may be rewritten

Korean companies' competitiveness increases ：The Lee Jae-myung government has pledged to strongly support the shipbuilding industry, such as solving financing problems and increasing guarantee support. This will provide Korean shipbuilders with stronger financial guarantees, making them more competitive in the international market and able to accept orders and expand their business more easily.

Competition between China and South Korea intensifies ：South Korea's increased support for the shipbuilding industry will inevitably lead to more intense competition with China and other major shipbuilding countries in the global shipbuilding market. Although China's shipbuilding industry has an advantage in total orders, it still faces strong challenges from South Korea in areas such as high value-added ships. The competition between the Chinese and Korean shipbuilding industries will become more complex and fierce.

Technology development towards new trends

Intelligence and environmental protection become the focus Lee Jae-myung emphasized that the Korean government and enterprises will invest more resources in the research and development of related technologies to seize the market of intelligent and environmentally friendly future ships, promote the demonstration and commercialization of autonomous navigation intelligent ships, and accelerate the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG), commercial application of multi-fuel technologies such as electricity, hydrogen, and methanol.

Industry technical standards may change ：South Korea plans to introduce standards related to future autonomous navigation of ships and ship-shore integrated intelligent shipping networks. If these standards are promoted and applied, it will help South Korea gain the right to speak in the field of smart ships, and then promote the development and transformation of the global shipbuilding industry in terms of intelligent and environmentally friendly technologies.

 The layout of the industrial chain is facing adjustments

Internal Optimization in Korea : Lee Jae-myung proposed to enhance the competitiveness of small and medium-sized shipbuilding enterprises and cultivate ship maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industries and other policies will help optimize the layout of South Korea's domestic shipbuilding industry chain, form an industrial ecology with coordinated development of large, medium and small shipbuilders and more complete supporting industries, and enhance the overall resilience and stability of South Korea's shipbuilding industry.

 Changes in the international division of labor ：The adjustment of the development strategy of the Korean shipbuilding industry may lead to a reorganization of the division of labor in the global shipbuilding industry chain. In the field of high-end shipbuilding, Korea's advantages may be further consolidated; while in some mid- and low-end shipbuilding markets, there may be more room for development for shipbuilders from other countries and regions.

Market supply and demand will be affected

Increased supply of high-end ships ：South Korean shipbuilders have strong strength in the field of high-end shipbuilding. With the promotion of new policies, they may further expand the production of high value-added ship types such as liquefied natural gas carriers, large container ships, special ships, etc., thereby increasing the supply of the global high-end ship market.

 Redistribution of market demand: The rise of South Korea's shipbuilding industry and its technological breakthroughs in the field of smart and environmentally friendly ships may attract more shipowners and shipping companies to choose ships built in South Korea, leading to a redistribution of global ship market demand and affecting the market share and development space of the shipbuilding industry in other countries.

Geopolitical factors have a growing impact

  Strengthening cooperation between South Korea and the United States: The new South Korean government is inclined to strengthen strategic cooperation with the United States and build military or commercial ships for the United States, which will make the South Korean shipbuilding industry more closely connected with the United States and affect the geopolitical structure of the global shipbuilding industry to a certain extent. At the same time, such cooperation may also have a squeezing effect on the shipbuilding industry of other countries, especially in the field of warship and high-end commercial ship construction.

  Intensified regional competition ：The strong development of South Korea's shipbuilding industry may trigger changes in the competition and cooperation pattern of the shipbuilding industry in Northeast Asia. The competition between traditional shipbuilding powers such as Japan and South Korea may further intensify, and it may also prompt China and other countries to strengthen independent innovation and industrial upgrading in the field of shipbuilding to cope with the competitive pressure from South Korea, thereby promoting the development and reform of the shipbuilding industry in the entire region.