The launch of the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Center (KUSPC) on Friday gave the $150 billion Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA) initiative its first durable operating structure, while also showing how much of the program still rests on preliminary agreements, existing corporate assets and financing plans that remain largely undisclosed.

KUSPC gives the shipbuilding component of last year’s $350 billion U.S.-ROK investment agreement a permanent base in Washington. It has a legal identity, a Korean government budget, a three-year operating plan and a mandate to connect shipbuilders, research institutions, investors and policymakers in both countries.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick