Shipbuilding ties to be in focus during South Korea President's visit

India and South Korea to prioritise shipbuilding cooperation during Lee Jae Myung's visit, alongside talks on semiconductors and small modular reactors

Deepening cooperation in shipbuilding will be the focus during South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s likely visit to India in mid-April, as both New Delhi and Seoul grasp the lessons of the ongoing conflict in West Asia, which has brought to the fore the criticality of merchant shipping.

 

The two countries also expect to strengthen cooperation in semiconductors and small modular reactors (SMRs).

 

Other than the United States, a key ally of South Korea, a relationship “forged in blood” because of the 1950-53 Korean war — and the country Lee visited in August last year — the 62-year-old has paid bilateral visits only to neighbours Japan and China since he was elected President in June 2025. This underscores the importance of India-South Korea relations. 

In response to this report, the Korean Cultural Centre, which is part of the Korean Embassy, said on Wednesday that "there have been no official announcements" by the two governments regarding the South Korean President's visit to India or the deepening of "shipbuilding ties" between the two countries. An official from the Centre said that the South Korean President's visit to New Delhi or his itinerary has not been finalised yet. 

 

Nearly 95 per cent of India’s trade by volume, which is about 70 per cent by value, moves through maritime routes. The Maritime India Vision 2030 aims to place India among the top 10 global shipbuilders by 2030, targeting an investment of ₹3 trillion-3.5 trillion across ports, shipping, and inland waterways, backed by a recent package of ₹69,725 crore designed to boost shipbuilding and revitalise the maritime ecosystem. 

 

The Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, a long-term road map for India’s maritime resurgence involving nearly ₹80 trillion in investment, targets being in the top five by the time the country completes 100 years of independence. The government has announced its intent to grow its commercial fleet from 1,550 to 2,500 vessels to strengthen self-reliance.

 

In this effort, New Delhi views South Korea as a strong partner, given the country’s advanced shipbuilding technology and experience in building “reliable and timely ships with high quality specifications”, an official said. India is also accelerating the development of integrated shipbuilding clusters across its coastal states.

 

South Korea’s unique strengths in the sector include precision engineering, expertise in liquefied natural gas (LNG), and efficient production systems, which can accelerate India’s climb up the global shipbuilding ladder, an official said. India is working closely with major South Korean shipbuilders, including Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai. In July, HD Hyundai had signed a partnership agreement with Cochin Shipyard, which is state-owned, to promote bilateral cooperation in shipbuilding, marking the first time a South Korean shipbuilder has forged a partnership with an Indian company.

 

As part of the proposed cooperation, New Delhi expects skill transfer, shipbuilding clusters to be set up, creating a complete supply-chain ecosystem for shipbuilding, and expanded Indian participation in global order books. In return, New Delhi could offer a large shipbuilding market, skilled manpower, and cost competitiveness, which complements South Korea’s technological edge even as it faces stiff competition from China in the sector.

 

Setting up a joint technology centre is being discussed. The government is moving to ease challenges that foreign shipbuilders could face when entering the Indian market, such as long project cycles and initial infrastructure adjustment. The ₹69,725 crore package the government announced in September to revitalise India’s shipbuilding and maritime sector and to expand domestic shipbuilding capacity would help create stronger foundations for collaboration with South Korean companies, the official said.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited South Korea in May 2015, when the two countries elevated their ties to a “Special Strategic Partnership”, and also in February 2019. President Lee and Modi met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, on June 17, 2025, and on the margins of the G20 Summit on November 22 in South Africa. In 2025, the chief ministers of Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Punjab visited Seoul, capital of South Korea, to promote investment in their respective states.

 

Bilateral trade between the two countries in January-October 2025 was $21.5 billion, with India’s import worth $16 billion.

 

Bilateral trade in 2022 had reached a record level of $27.8 billion. The two countries are looking at increasing it to $50 billion by 2030.

 

South Korea is the 15th largest foreign direct investment (FDI) investor in India. There are 600 South Korean firms operating in the country. Six Korean banks have in India 18 branches overall. These are KEB Hana, Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Nonghyup, and IBK. India and South Korea have also strengthened their defence cooperation in recent years.

 

In South Korea, Lee has earned a reputation during his mayoral stints for funding welfare activities, not through debt-driven spending but implementing fiscal and administrative austerity, which involved moving his own office to a lower floor of the city hall and cutting administrative perks to prioritise debt repayment. He funded flagship welfare schemes, such as the Basic Income Policy and Youth Dividend, by cutting administrative waste and eliminating leakage in the city Budget. Following his election, his administration implemented a universal stimulus of 250,000 won ($185) per citizen, issued in local currency, and usable only at neighbourhood businesses and traditional markets.

 

Lee spent his childhood in poverty, working as a factory labourer. He bonded over this shared experience with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva when the two met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, and when Lula visited Seoul in February. During his visit to Japan earlier this year, Lee and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae concluded their summit meeting by joining an impromptu drum performance, despite tensions between the two countries. 

 

Lee has positioned his country as an important buffer zone in the rivalry between China and Japan. During his visit to China, when Chinese President Xi Jinping presented him a Chinese smartphone as a gift, Lee joked asking if the device contained any backdoor surveillance software. In his negotiations with US President Donald Trump over trade tariffs, Lee secured Washington’s consent for Seoul to develop nuclear-powered submarines. Lee, both during his mayoral stints and now as president, has used social media extensively as a real-time governance dashboard, including live broadcasts of Cabinet meetings.