South Korea and the United States' planned signing of a memorandum of understanding aiming to simplify the delivery of shipbuilding equipment between the two sides has been postponed at Washington's request.

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards said that the American Bureau of Shipping asked to delay the signing, which was initially scheduled for Friday morning, in order to discuss additional matters related to cooperation, and that it had accepted the request in order to maintain the two sides' friendly ties.

Under the nonbinding agreement, the ABS had planned to simplify the registration process for designated testing agencies for qualified testing agencies recognized by the Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme.

The postponement has also deferred the planned simplification of equipment delivery between the two sides.

South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy says the delay is unlikely to impact the Make American Shipbuilding Great Again collaboration initiative.