HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Appeals Dismissal of Injunction to Prevent Disclosure of KDDX Trade Secrets

Appeal Filed After Court Dismisses Injunction

Project Delayed for Two Years Amid Intensifying Competition Between the Two Companies

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has filed an appeal after a court dismissed its injunction request to prevent its competitor, Hanwha Ocean, from accessing the basic design materials for Korea's next-generation destroyer (KDDX).

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Completes Basic Design of Korean Next-Generation Destroyer KDDX. Provided by HD Hyundai Photo by Yonhap News

According to industry sources on May 15, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries submitted an appeal to the Seoul Central District Court on the same day against the decision to dismiss the injunction.

Previously, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries filed for an injunction, arguing that the materials included in the KDDX Project Request for Proposal (RFP) contained its trade secrets and therefore should not be shared with Hanwha Ocean. However, the court dismissed the request on May 8.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries stated, "This is a matter where important company trade secrets could be transferred to a competitor, potentially undermining the fairness of a national project," adding, "We filed the appeal to seek a reconsideration of the court's decision."

Industry insiders believe that if the appeal is accepted, it could impact the future project timeline. However, they also see little likelihood that the court will overturn its original decision.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration plans to close the registration for bidding participants on May 28, followed by on-site inspections and proposal evaluations in early June.

The KDDX project is Korea's first domestic destroyer program to develop both the hull and the Aegis system using local technologies. A total of 7.8 trillion won will be invested to build six 6,000-ton class mini Aegis destroyers.

Naval shipbuilding projects typically proceed in the following order: conceptual design, basic design, detailed design and lead ship construction, and subsequent ship construction. Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries were in charge of the conceptual design and basic design, respectively.

Initially, the plan was to complete the basic design by the end of 2023 and begin detailed design and lead ship construction last year. However, the project has been delayed by about two years due to intense competition between the two companies, which prevented the Defense Acquisition Program Administration from making a final decision.

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