South Korea Breaks Stalemate on $5 Billion Destroyer Project with New Bidding Rules

Key Takeaways

South Korea’s arms procurement agency has finalized a “selective bidding process” for its ₩7 trillion (US$5 billion) next-generation destroyer program. The decision aims to restart the critical naval project, which had been stalled by a protracted legal dispute between the nation’s two largest shipbuilders, Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.

SEOUL – South Korea's state arms procurement agency will introduce a selective bidding process to pick a shipbuilder for its first homegrown advanced destroyer, officials announced Monday. The decision aims to break a deadlock that has stalled the estimated ₩7 trillion (US$5 billion) project to build six of the advanced vessels.

According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the Defense Project Promotion Committee finalized the contracting method in a meeting on Monday afternoon. This move is seen as a crucial step to get the Korean Next-Generation Destroyer (KDDX) program back on track.

The project had been in limbo due to a bitter legal feud between the two defense giants that participated in the destroyer's initial design phase.

By opting for a selective bidding process, DAPA is effectively inviting the two qualified firms to compete on technical merit and cost, moving past the previous stalemate. This method restricts bidding to a few pre-qualified competitors, which in this case are the two companies already involved in the conceptual design.

The agency is expected to release further details on the bidding timeline and evaluation criteria soon. The decision revitalizes a cornerstone of South Korea’s naval ambitions to field a fleet of advanced destroyers surpassing its current Aegis-equipped fleet.