Shipbuilding has been the mainstay of South Korea’s economic development over the past few decades, but the once-formidable sector is today facing strong headwinds.

The labour-intensive shipbuilding sector has cut its workforce by more than half to about 100,000 from around 200,000 three years ago, according to Mijeong Kim of the policy planning team at the Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Association (Koshipa).

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