The logo of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean astatine their bureau gathering successful Seoul, South Korea, October 15, 2025.
Kim Hong-ji | Reuters
Shares of South Korean steadfast Hanwha Ocean surged 10% Tuesday aft U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the steadfast would assistance physique caller frigates for the country's Navy.
Speaking astatine a property conference, Trump said that the warships volition beryllium built astatine the Hanwha Philly Shipyard successful Philadelphia, acquired by the South Korean institution successful 2024, and successful which it has pledged to put $5 cardinal arsenic portion of South Korea's $150 cardinal shipbuilding pledge.
The shipbuilding pledge is portion of the broader U.S.-South Korea commercialized woody that saw tariffs reduced connected South Korean exports to 15%, successful speech for a $350 cardinal concern pledge from Seoul, among different concessions.
Hanwha Ocean is 1 of South Korea's large shipbuilding firms, having expertise successful gathering commercialized ships specified arsenic LNG carriers, arsenic good arsenic and subject naval platforms including submarines and aboveground vessels.
South Korean defence stocks person been connected a rotation this year, with large defence players specified arsenic Hanhwa Aerospace and Hyundai Rotem gaining implicit 170% and 270%, respectively twelvemonth to date. Hanhwa Ocean has surged much 220% truthful acold this year.
Last week, the U.S. Navy announced the FF(X) people of ships — smaller combatant ships — which it said volition complement larger, multi-mission warships and heighten operational flexibility astir the globe. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said the caller frigate people would beryllium portion of Trump's envisioned "Golden Fleet."
Trump connected Monday stateside said that the U.S. Navy volition physique 2 caller "Trump-class" battleships, and whitethorn grow the number to arsenic overmuch arsenic 25 specified ships.
The U.S. president described the ships arsenic "some of the astir lethal aboveground warfare ships," adding that the they volition "help support American subject supremacy, [and] animate fearfulness successful America's enemies each implicit the world."
Describing them arsenic "the fastest, the biggest, and by far, 100 times much almighty than immoderate battleship ever built," the Trump-class battleships are envisioned to beryllium equipped with hypersonic weapons, lasers, cruise missiles, and atomic weapons, according to the U.S. President.
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