[Market Focus] Hanwha Ocean Soars on Trump’s Approval of Nuclear Submarine

As of 9:30 a.m. on October 30, Hanwha Ocean's stock price on the Korea Exchange was up 10.01% from the previous day's closing, reaching 145,100 won. This surge appears to be driven by U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that he has approved the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine for South Korea, stating that it will be built at a shipyard in Philadelphia.

During the opening remarks at the Korea-U.S. summit held at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit the previous day, President Lee Jaemyung publicly requested approval for the supply of fuel for South Korea's nuclear-powered submarines. Early on the morning of October 30, President Trump posted on the social media platform Truth Social, stating, "I have approved the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine for South Korea. It will be built at the Philadelphia Shipyard." As a result, the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine for South Korea has effectively become a fait accompli. The Philadelphia Shipyard (also known as Philly Shipyard) is a U.S. shipyard acquired by Hanwha Ocean in June last year.

Even after acquiring Hanwha Philly Shipyard, Hanwha Group is still pursuing the acquisition of Austal USA. Austal USA signed a contract in September last year with a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine manufacturer to establish a submarine module production facility, which is scheduled for completion next year. If Hanwha Group successfully acquires Austal USA, it will directly participate in the value chain for building nuclear-powered submarines, which is the top priority for the U.S. Navy's fleet expansion.

Yonhap News Agency

The price of a nuclear-powered submarine for the Republic of Korea Navy is estimated to be in the trillion-won range. The latest contract awarded to Hanwha Ocean for the third vessel of the Jangbogo-III Batch-II class was valued at 1.102 trillion won. Among U.S. nuclear-powered submarines, the Virginia class costs 5.1 billion dollars (approximately 7 trillion won) per unit, while the Columbia class costs 9.4 billion dollars (approximately 13 trillion won) per unit. In South Korea's case, since only conventional weapons will be equipped, unlike in the U.S., the price is expected to be lower than that of American submarines.

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