Cheong Wa Dae on the 14th, responding to the Donald Trump administration's decision to allow "up to two ships to be built by foreign shipbuilders," said, "Given the consensus between the two leaders on mutually beneficial cooperation in shipbuilding, we hope to continue to flesh out avenues for cooperation through consultations between the two countries."
In a statement that day, Cheong Wa Dae said, "We understand that the U.S. administration, through this memorandum, is continuing to pursue concrete measures to rebuild the U.S. shipbuilding industry," and made the remarks.
Earlier, the White House said the previous day (local time) that President Trump signed a national security presidential memorandum to improve the U.S. Navy's shipbuilding and repair operations and restore the production capacity and competitiveness of the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base.
The memorandum allows, only for foreign shipbuilders making large long-term investments in the U.S. shipbuilding industry, the construction of up to two U.S. naval vessels in their home countries. For decades, the United States had banned by federal law the construction of U.S. naval vessels overseas. This move came shortly after the United States inquired about warship-building capabilities at major Korean shipbuilders, and is seen as a major boon for "K-shipbuilding."