politics
South Korea Announces Plan for Nuclear-Powered Submarines by Mid-2030s, Prompting US Policy Shift on Enrichment
Seoul announced plans to develop and construct nuclear-powered submarines domestically, using low-enriched uranium fuel, with the first vessel expected in about a decade.
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South Korea announced plans to build nuclear-powered submarines by the mid-2030s, with the first vessel to be launched in about a decade. The submarines will be developed and built by South Korea and will use low-enriched uranium fuel, Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said.
The United States agreed to South Korea acquiring nuclear-powered submarines ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in 2025.
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that South Korea will be building its Nuclear Powered Submarine in the Philadelphia Shipyards. Mr Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung agreed last year that the US would work with Seoul on the project, including on avenues to source fuel.
South Korea's government did not reveal how many nuclear-powered submarines it plans to build or the expected cost.
US and South Korean officials held talks this week on expanded uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing rights to support Seoul's plan. South Korea has an agreement with the US that restricts its uranium enrichment. South Korea's ambitions for nuclear-powered submarines go back 20 years.
The country is modernising its diesel-electric submarines, including the KSS-II and KSS-III class, which were expected to remain operational for decades. North Korea has invested heavily in submarine-launched ballistic missile capabilities. South Korea has shipbuilding prowess, a civil nuclear power industry, and experience building conventional submarines.
"South Korea is not starting from zero," said Jihoon Yu, research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. " "South Korea must make clear that this is a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine program," Dr Yu said. " "AUKUS and South Korea's submarine initiative are best understood as different solutions to different strategic circumstances," said Seong-Hyon Lee, associate in research at Harvard University's Asia Center.
