South Korea and the United States have agreed on the need to revise a U.S. law that restricts the construction of U.S. Navy ships to domestic shipyards. 

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration(DAPA) said Friday that DAPA Vice Minister Kang Hwan-seug and Jason Potter, assistant secretary of the U.S. navy for research, development and acquisition, held talks on Wednesday in Washington. 

DAPA said the two sides discussed bilateral cooperation in naval shipbuilding as well as on maintenance, repair and overhaul projects.

Both sides also acknowledged the need to revise the Byrnes-Tollefson Amendment, which prohibits the construction of U.S. naval vessels in foreign countries, and have agreed to set up a working-level group to discuss the details. 

South Korea has long argued that the law needs to be revised to facilitate bilateral cooperation in shipbuilding.