South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced Wednesday that its chief, Seok Jong-gun, held a series of high-level meetings in Washington earlier this week to strengthen bilateral defense industry ties. Seok met with senior officials from the U.S. Department of the Navy and Department of Defense to discuss ways to expand cooperation in naval vessel maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and explore longer-term collaboration on shipbuilding. He also urged the U.S. to ease legal restrictions that currently bar foreign construction of U.S. naval vessels.

Seok’s delegation emphasized South Korea’s track record in MRO services and the efficiency of its