The South Korean government has asked the United States for a shipbuilding-specific visa quota as a condition for carrying out MASGA, the $150 billion Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation project whose name stands for Make American Shipbuilding Great Again. The aim is to secure an entry route for Korean technical and skilled workers needed at U.S. shipyards, which face a shortage of skilled labor. The government has also set out other preconditions for the investment, including secured vessel orders, financial incentives and eased rules on overseas construction.
According to materials submitted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to the office of Rep. Heo Sung-moo of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee, the government is discussing investment conditions such as a shipbuilding-specific visa quota in working-level talks with Washington. The ministry said on the 18th that it is "explaining the preconditions the U.S. side must meet for Korea to carry out its investment," adding that it had "requested U.S. order demand, joint construction including exemptions for overseas building, financial incentives and a shipbuilding-specific visa quota."
The government moved to secure a separate visa channel because of the shortage of shipbuilding workers in the U.S. and because the professional visa category (E-4) it had been pursuing is seen as ill-suited to the demand for technical and skilled workers at local shipyards. A ministry official said the professional visa the government had been seeking to expand "is different in nature from the technical and skilled workers needed on shipbuilding sites," adding that "the priority is to create a visa channel through which shipbuilding workers can enter." The specific size of the visa quota is expected to be discussed through a Korea-U.S. visa working group and other channels.
The scale of joint Korea-U.S. shipbuilding research and development has also been set. According to the materials the ministry submitted to Heo's office, the two countries will invest a combined 155.7 billion won over the next five years in eight projects, consisting of 120 billion won in state funds and 35.7 billion won in private capital.
The government is also calling for changes to U.S. rules on shipbuilding, including the Byrnes-Tollefson Amendment, which restricts overseas construction of U.S. Navy vessels, and the Jones Act, which regulates cargo transport between U.S. ports.
Heo said the government "should actively work out effective support measures so that our shipbuilding workers can move into these sites smoothly."