Declining U.S. shipbuilding: Ships being decommissioned due to maintainance challenges

[Anchor]

There is a particularly noteworthy point in the phone call between President Yoon Suk Yeol and President-elect Trump.

In their first call, President-elect Trump asked for help with the U.S. shipbuilding industry.

How serious is the situation that led to this request?

First, reporter Kim Gwi-soo has the details.

[Report]

The U.S. shipbuilding industry accounts for less than 1% of the global market.

The market shares of China, South Korea, and Japan exceed 90%.

The U.S. shipbuilding industry, which dominated the seas around World War II, has barely maintained its existence since losing price competitiveness after the cessation of subsidies in the 1980s.

Even the U.S. Navy, which is considered the strongest in the world, is facing significant challenges.

There are public concerns that the speed of decommissioning is faster than the ability to build and maintain vessels.

The U.S.'s biggest competitor, China, has 234 warships, surpassing the U.S. Navy's 219.

[Min Jeong-hoon/Professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy: "The ability of the U.S. to build and maintain warships has significantly declined, which means they need to compete with China."]

Therefore, in April, the U.S. Navy announced 'Project 33'.

This initiative aims to resolve maintenance delays for ships and submarines to strengthen long-term naval superiority over China.

[Lisa Franchetti/Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Navy: "In the system this year, to be able to do some very short maintenance periods in a small number of foreign shipyards."]

In this context, U.S. media are paying attention to South Korea's shipbuilding industry, highlighting the Korean Aegis destroyer 'Sejong the Great' as the world's best warship.

The reasons for the U.S. requesting cooperation from South Korea in shipbuilding include its top performance and low construction costs.

This is KBS News, Kim Gwi-soo.