"Shipbuilding Industry Rebound"... Securing 9,500 Workforce and 180 Billion KRW Technology Investment

Ministry of Industry and Financial Services Visit Ulsan Site
Commercialization of Domestic LNG Cargo Tank Technology

The government will supply an additional 9,500 domestic and foreign workers within this year to the shipbuilding industry, which is struggling with a labor shortage. A dedicated talent development center will be newly established to nurture future technical personnel, and training programs will be launched. Additionally, 180 billion KRW will be invested to secure advanced technologies in the shipbuilding sector.

On the 10th, Lee Chang-yang, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, held a meeting with the shipbuilding industry at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' Ulsan shipyard and announced plans to expand support in manpower and finance.

On the 30th, Lee Chang-yang, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, announced the plan to increase electricity rates for the next year at the Government Seoul Office Building. He stated that gas rates will be temporarily frozen. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

The government stated that Korea's shipbuilding industry accounted for 40% of the global ship market in the first quarter of this year (based on order value, $9.4 billion), achieving the world's number one order record, and the order backlog reached 38.68 million CGT, the highest level since 2011, securing work for more than three years.

Furthermore, through improvements in the foreign workforce introduction system, the government secured and supplied about 5,500 workers in the first quarter. However, due to the recent increase in workload, it is expected that 14,000 workers will be lacking by the end of this year, so additional workforce acquisition plans are underway. The government plans to secure a total of 9,500 additional workers, including 4,000 skilled workers (E-7), 3,000 low-skilled workers (E-9), and 2,500 domestic workers.

Minister Lee Chang-yang explained, "By closely cooperating with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, we secured about 5,500 workers in just one quarter, which opened a path for labor supply and demand," adding, "We will ensure that manpower is deployed to the field more quickly and efficiently through inter-ministerial cooperation."

In addition, the government will invest 180 billion KRW to secure a technological gap in advanced shipbuilding technologies. Of this, 139.1 billion KRW will be invested in eco-friendly ship technologies such as LNG and electric propulsion equipment localization, 22.1 billion KRW in autonomous navigation and future ship technologies, and 20.5 billion KRW in digital transformation.

Moreover, to revitalize orders, the government announced expanded financial support measures including the new supply of advance payment refund guarantees (RG) by three institutions including Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, full support for RG issuance by financial institutions for medium and large companies, expansion of special guarantees for medium-sized companies by the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation to 200 billion KRW, and preparation of RG guidelines for the high value-added structural transformation of the shipbuilding industry.

LNG Bunkering Dedicated Vessel Blue Whale

Meanwhile, at the Ulsan shipyard on the same day, the naming ceremony was held for the 'Blue Whale,' Korea's first LNG bunkering dedicated vessel applying Korean-style cargo hold technology (KC-2). Constructed since 2020 with an investment of 55.3 billion KRW, the Blue Whale is expected to contribute to the localization of high value-added cargo hold technology.

It is capable of directly supplying LNG equivalent to 250 tanker trucks (7,500㎥) to ships at sea. This will significantly reduce the temporal and spatial constraints of LNG bunkering, thereby improving the efficiency of LNG bunkering operations.

Minister Lee emphasized, "The global ship market is continuing a favorable trend after a prolonged slump, and Korea's shipbuilding industry is making a full-fledged leap forward with improved order performance," adding, "The government will actively support resolving labor shortages, securing leading technologies for future ships, and expanding financial support to accelerate the shipbuilding industry's resurgence."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.