캐나다에서 밀렸는데… 미국이 먼저 한화오션 잠수함을 찾은 이유

#HanwhaOcean #CanadianSubmarine #KShipbuilding It is true that we gave up the 60 trillion won Canadian submarine contract to Germany. However, that very submarine crossed the Pacific Ocean a distance of 14,000 kilometers and walked right to the doorstep of the United States on its own accord. A Canadian soldier who personally boarded the ship remarked, "It felt like driving a new Tesla after driving a rickety 1999 model car." After the world's most powerful military, the U.S. Army, watched our submarine from the passenger seat, the U.S. was the first to submit documents to Hanwha Ocean. Let's follow this one story during lunchtime, leading up to the 1,600 trillion won door that opened at the end of that voyage. 📌 July 6, 2026: Canada Selects Germany’s TKMS as Preferred Bidder for Next-Generation Submarine Contract (60 Trillion Won, up to 12 vessels + 30-Year Maintenance) — Hanwha Ocean Bitters Out. Not performance, but political and alliance variables such as NATO interoperability, early delivery (2034), and 100% reinvestment (final contract under negotiation until the end of 2027, not yet finalized) 📌 Four months before the announcement, on March 25, the ROKS Dosan An Chang-ho (3,000-ton class) quietly departed Jinhae → arrived at Esquimalt, Canada on May 23 after passing through Guam and Hawaii. Total of approximately 14,000 km, the longest voyage in the history of Korean submarines (accompanied by escort ships). 📌 Sales that drove the actual vessel, not just a catalog, to the other side of the globe — the accident-free completion of that long sea journey itself proves its performance and reliability. 📌 At RIMPAC 2026 (the largest ever with over 30 countries and 40 vessels), the Republic of Korea Navy served as the Commander of the Combined Naval Component (Major General Kim In-ho) for the first time since participating in 1990 — the 4th outside the U.S., the first in Asia, and the first from a non-English speaking country. 📌 Impressions of a Canadian crew member (Sergeant Dixon) aboard the ROKS Dosan An Chang-ho at Pearl Harbor: "It feels like going from driving a 1999 Honda Civic to driving a new Tesla." (Actual remark by a crew member on the ground, not the Commander). 💡 The lineage of our submarines surprising the U.S. military — In 1998, ROKS Lee Jong-mu virtually sank 13 U.S. vessels (150,000 tons) at RIMPAC, and in 2004 Jang Bogo-class ships conduct undetected simulated attacks on over 30 U.S. vessels, including the US aircraft carrier USS John Stennis (a legendary training exercise from that era, not a recent event) 💡 This time, the U.S. reached out first: July 2026, the U.S. Department of War and Navy sent RFIs (Requests for Information) for combat ships and refueling vessels to HD Hyundai, Hanwha Ocean, and Samsung Heavy Industries — the first instance since MASS where the U.S. officially sounded out South Korea's naval capabilities; the three companies have completed their responses. 💡 Why? The collapse of the U.S. shipbuilding industry — The USS Bonhomme Richard (40,000 tons) was completely destroyed and decommissioned in a fire during dock repairs in 2020. Ships are aging, but there is nowhere to build or repair them. 💡 June 2026, at a G7 dinner, Trump directly asked President Lee Jae-myung, "Can you quickly build 10 U.S. warships?" → "It is possible." July 7 NATO Follow-up Working-Level Consultations, July 23 ROK-US Shipbuilding Cooperation Center Opens in Washington 💡 The Scale Behind the Door: US Navy plans to build 364 new ships (293 combat ships) over 30 years = CBO estimate of approximately 1,600 trillion won. This is equivalent to decades of our annual defense budget (around 60 trillion won), and Canada's 60 trillion won is less than one-tenth of that. 💡 However, do not count your chickens before they hatch — The House adopted the Jones Act and the Bernstollefson Amendment (mandating domestic shipbuilding) plus Jed Golden's amendment banning combat ships from overseas shipyards. Conversely, the Senate allowed allies to build non-combat ships (such as refueling vessels) → The door is opening, but the bolt is not yet bolted. 💡 The Real Reason the US Is Urgent Is the Surveillance Gap Under the Arctic Ice — Russian and Chinese submarines and the Shelong-2 are entering and exiting a blind spot that is difficult to detect even with the world's most powerful sonar due to high noise levels. With Canadian and German submarines not arriving until 2034 and the U.S. and Canada relying on aging nuclear submarines, K-submarines capable of early mass production are emerging as an alternative. 💡 On top of this, the development of the Korean nuclear-powered submarine (Jang보고-N) has been officially formalized with the goal of launching it in the mid-2030s (using low-enriched uranium). The RFI and 1,600 trillion won figures are still projections and inquiries, not contracts — let's be realistic. 💡 Connecting to my wallet: Defense and shipbuilding exports return in the form of jobs, tax r...