With the decision on the first project under the investment initiative for the United States approaching, Minister Kim Jeong-gwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will visit the U.S. It is effectively the final round of coordination to announce the two countries’ first project. As power demand surges due to construction of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, observers see either the energy sector, which has drawn increased attention, or shipbuilding, in which the U.S. has shown concrete interest, as strong candidates to become the ‘No. 1 project’.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 19th, Minister Kim will visit the U.S. from the 22nd to the 24th. The key item on the agenda is attending the opening ceremony of the Korea·U.S. Shipbuilding Cooperation Center in Washington, D.C., on the 23rd. Kim Yong-beom, the Cheong Wa Dae policy director, said on KBS Sunday Diagnosis that “the Korea·U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation has been established, and the U.S. has sent us candidate projects for investment. We are conducting a detailed analysis of the list.”

The energy sector is being strongly discussed as the leading candidate for the first U.S.-bound investment project. U.S. President Donald Trump has set a goal of quadrupling U.S. nuclear power generation capacity from about 100 GW as of 2024 to 400 GW by 2050. This comes as stable power supply to sustain industrial revival and the explosion of AI data centers has emerged as an urgent task. Even aside from nuclear power, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) power generation field is also a strong possibility.

The shipbuilding industry is also pinning its hopes on this. In May, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the Korea·U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Initiative and agreed to establish a Shipbuilding Cooperation Center. During this trip to the U.S., Minister Kim will meet U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in shipbuilding. The leaders from both countries for the MASGA (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again) project will be sitting at the same table.

In fact, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to allocate $150 billion of the $350 billion U.S.-bound investment package to shipbuilding cooperation. A shipbuilding industry official said, “Shipbuilding is the field where U.S. demand and South Korea’s supply capabilities align best.”

The fact that the U.S. government has been mentioning Korean naval vessels more frequently also bolsters this outlook. On the 15th (local time), President Trump noted that two multi-purpose ships for national security are being built at the U.S. Philly Shipyard acquired by Hanwha Group.

Earlier, the U.S. War Department (Ministry of National Defense) and the U.S. Navy sent requests for information (RFI) to Korean shipbuilders regarding warships and replenishment oilers. An RFI is the first step taken to gather information such as price and delivery terms for the purpose of formulating a plan to procure a specific product.

Domestic shipbuilders are also moving to strengthen cooperation with local U.S. companies to gain an early foothold in the American shipbuilding market.

Hanwha Group’s Philly Shipyard said that it won a contract that day to build a maritime missile test instrumentation vessel (MRIV) for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA). HD Hyundai signed a strategic partnership with Kiewit, the largest engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company in the U.S., to cooperate on shipbuilding. Kiewit has a track record of constructing various large offshore structures in North and South America. Samsung Heavy Industries has cooperative relationships with U.S. shipbuilders such as General Dynamics NASSCO. An industry official explained, “Because the U.S. government still prohibits overseas construction of naval vessels, a realistic strategy is to expand touchpoints with local companies while seeking entry into the U.S. market.”