South Korea

中 글로벌 조선시장 독주…韓·美 '마스가' 동맹으로 판 바꾼다

Digital Daily | Local Language | News | Nov. 28, 2025 | Shifting Geopolitical Alliances

As of the third quarter of 2025, China holds a dominant 56% share of global shipbuilding orders, significantly ahead of South Korea's 22%. China has not only maintained its volume advantage due to low labor costs but has also penetrated high-value-added and eco-friendly ship sectors traditionally led by Korea. In 2024, China surpassed Korea in orders for very large crude carriers (VLCCs), large container ships, and LNG carriers, with China commanding 72.4% of orders versus Korea's 27%. China also leads in eco-friendly ships powered by LNG or methanol fuel, holding 54.2% of orders compared to Korea's 27.4% through October 2025.

China’s growth is underpinned by strong state-level R&D investment, production automation, and a dual approach involving both 71 state-owned and 241 private shipyards. State-owned shipyards in China are catching up to Korean technology, while private yards produce large volumes of small- and mid-sized low-value vessels. By October 2025, the combined order backlog amounted to about 3,900 vessels. Conversely, the U.S. shipbuilding industry has declined significantly; despite 414 shipyards nationwide, only 19 have a commercial ship order backlog, while the Chinese navy continues to expand rapidly, projected to reach 425 vessels by 2030 compared to the U.S. Navy’s 294.

In response, South Korea and the U.S. are collaborating through the MASGA project to counter China's dominance. They plan to form a working group to enhance cooperation in commercial shipbuilding, nuclear submarines, and warships, potentially involving security ministries. Recent agreements include U.S. approval of South Korean construction of nuclear submarines and high-level U.S. Navy engagements with major Korean shipbuilders like HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. South Korea aims to leverage MASGA to enter the U.S. market, strengthen alliances, and export shipbuilding technology to build a "K-shipbuilding alliance network" that includes countries such as Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and India.

The long-term goal is to create a broad alliance of nations equipped with Korean shipbuilding technology, shifting the competitive dynamic from China versus Korea to China versus a coalition of K-shipbuilding allied countries. This strategy is intended to counter China's volume advantages and maintain the competitiveness of Korea's shipbuilding industry on the global stage.

중국, 딥시크·알리바바 앞세워 'AI 오픈소스' 미국 추월

ET News | Local Language | News | Nov. 28, 2025 | UndeterminedTech Development/Adoption

China, led by DeepSeek and Alibaba, has surpassed the United States in the global AI open-source market for the first time. A recent study by MIT and Hugging Face indicated that Chinese AI open-source models account for 17% of new downloads over the past year, overtaking the combined 15.8% share of U.S. developers including Google, Meta, and OpenAI. This shift is seen as giving Chinese AI open source an advantage in global adoption, as open source lowers barriers for developers by allowing free downloads and modifications.

The United States' approach, shaped by the Trump administration’s push to promote open-source models reflecting “American values,” contrasts with China’s strategy. U.S. tech giants focus on developing proprietary frontier models to maintain control and revenue via subscriptions and corporate deals. While Meta initially opened models like "Llama," it has since increased efforts toward closed models for superintelligence development. Conversely, Chinese firms, encouraged by government policies and restrictions on exporting cutting-edge AI semiconductors, have accelerated open-source model development and domestic collaboration, fostering a more vibrant open-source ecosystem.

Chinese companies such as DeepSeek and Alibaba release models more frequently, often weekly or biweekly, providing a variety of options compared to the less frequent releases of U.S. firms. Techniques like model distillation, encouraged by U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors, have led Chinese researchers to develop small but powerful models. Additionally, Chinese firms are actively progressing in AI video-generation models. Experts highlight that China has more active participants in open-source AI development than the U.S., prompting concern among U.S. analysts about China's rapid advancements in this field.

이해진·송치형 "새로운 글로벌 플랫폼 질서 만들겠다"

ZD Net Korea | Local Language | News | Nov. 28, 2025 | UndeterminedBizdev-Partnering

Naver Financial and Dunamu, together with their parent company Naver, have formulated a plan to develop next-generation financial infrastructure by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies. Their goal is to create a new global platform that will extend beyond payments to cover the entire financial sector and lifestyle services.

Song Chi-hyung, chairman of Dunamu, highlighted the synergy expected from the merger, emphasizing that combining strengths will enhance global competitiveness in technology, trust, and customer base. He noted the fintech market's expansion from payments into investment, asset management, and capital markets, with blockchain-based services emerging. Song predicted this evolution would lead to a new economic ecosystem merging lifestyle services like search, shopping, and content with finance.

Song stressed that the United States is currently leading this change and urged timely action to avoid falling behind global competitors. Lee Hae-jin, chairman of Naver's board, echoed the importance of cooperation for survival and competition in this evolving landscape. Lee explained that their drive to global expansion motivated the partnership, embracing the challenge to pioneer AI technology convergence in finance on a global scale.