---
title: "Korean Register issues significant first certification for 3D printed metal repair"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/korean-register-issues-significant-first-certification-for-3d-printed-metal-repair/
date: 2026-07-30
modified: 2026-07-30
lang: en
author: "Joseph Caron-Dawe"
description: "Korean Register (KR) has awarded its first manufacturing procedure certificate for additive manufacturing repair technology, certifying a process that restores damaged sections of metal structures using 3D printing rather than..."
categories:
  - "AM Industry"
  - "Metal Additive Manufacturing"
tags:
  - "future"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Korea-Register-3D-printed-metal-repair-certification-640x384.jpg
word_count: 329
---

# Korean Register issues significant first certification for 3D printed metal repair

Korean Register (KR) has awarded its first manufacturing procedure certificate for additive manufacturing repair technology, certifying a process that restores damaged sections of metal structures using 3D printing rather than replacing entire parts. KR presented the certification at the AM Solutions additive manufacturing center in Daejeon, covering a process based on laser wire directed energy deposition.

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Meltio-Wire-and-Powder-Multi-Laser-Deposition-Metal-3D-Printing_Home_VT-1-340x191.png)

The certification was significant in that it marked the first instance of KR formally verifying the safety and reliability of an additive manufacturing process built for repair rather than new-part production, extending a technology that has to date centered on manufacturing new components into the maintenance field.

## A regulatory response to shipbuilding and defense demand

[Additive manufacturing has drawn interest in the aerospace, shipbuilding, offshore and defense sectors](https://www.voxelmatters.com/south-korea-to-3d-print-discontinued-military-parts/) in South Korea, though its industrial adoption has been somewhat constrained by the absence of international certification systems and high costs.

The International Association of Classification Societies established recommended international standards last year for applying additive manufacturing safely in the shipping and offshore sectors. KR said it revised its additive manufacturing guidelines this year to reflect those standards and built a certification system covering materials, manufacturing processes, products and manufacturing methods.

## How the selective LW-DED process works

Because only the affected section is rebuilt, rather than replacing or remanufacturing the entire part, KR said the approach can reduce maintenance time and cost and could extend the service life of parts that are discontinued or difficult to procure. 

“This certification carries significant meaning in that it has expanded the application scope of additive manufacturing technology to the repair of existing metal structures,” Kim Sang-soo, head of KR's Naval Ship Business Division, [was quoted as saying in the *Seoul Economic Daily*](https://en.sedaily.com/society/2026/07/29/korean-register-issues-first-certification-for-3d-printing).

“We expect it to present a new solution for the maintenance systems of high-value equipment and structures in operation [in the defense](https://www.voxelmatters.com/marines-3d-print-coast-guard-boat-part-in-hours-during-korea-exercise/) and shipbuilding sectors.”

AM has also made strides in the Korean aerospace industry, [with innovative companies such as INNOSPACE using advanced metal AM processes](https://www.voxelmatters.com/innospace-becomes-first-in-south-korea-to-commercialize-support-free-titanium-3d-printing/).