KUALA LUMPUR - South Korea has promoted its shipyards as a model for the United States under President Donald Trump’s manufacturing revival push, but the sector is struggling with safety issues and manpower shortages.

Shipbuilding is among the country’s most dangerous industries, with fatality rates in 2024 reported at more than four times the national average, driving many local workers away.

To sustain production, companies have turned to migrant workers, who now make up as much as 30% of the workforce in certain skilled roles, with more than 23,000 holding key shipyard visas as of April 2025.

President Lee Jae Myung questioned whether relying on low-paid foreign labour would benefit the industry in the long run.

“If we bring in foreign workers at around 2.2 million won (USD1,921) a month to fill shipyard jobs, we have to ask what happens to domestic employment, and whether that truly helps the long-term development of the industry,” Lee said.

Rights groups warn that the industry depends heavily on subcontracted migrant labour under restrictive visa rules that limit job mobility and expose workers to exploitation.

Kim Doona of Korean Lawyers for Public Interest and Human Rights warned that weak labour standards could harm the industry’s future competitiveness.

“Ignoring labour rights in an industry built on high-skilled work ultimately weakens global competitiveness,” she said.