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South Korea will develop and build nuclear-powered submarines domestically, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said Tuesday, with Seoul planning to launch its first vessel in the mid-2030s.
Ahn made the announcement during a defense strategy meeting attended by President Lee Jae Myung, as South Korea seeks to strengthen deterrence against nuclear-armed North Korea.
“We will develop and build nuclear-powered submarines with our own technology to launch the first vessel in the mid-2030s,” Ahn said.
He said the first submarine is expected to enter operational service “in the latter half of the 2030s.”
South Korea has long sought nuclear-powered submarines to respond to North Korea’s growing military threats, but its plans had been limited by a nuclear cooperation agreement with the U.S.
Lee said in November that Seoul had received Washington’s approval to build nuclear-powered submarines as part of a long-awaited security and trade agreement.
The agreement included U.S. approval for uranium enrichment and reprocessing spent fuel.
South Korea is now set to join a small group of countries operating nuclear-powered submarines after receiving U.S. approval for the supply of restricted nuclear fuel.
However, there had not previously been a clear indication of where the submarines would be built.
U.S. President Donald Trump had said they would be built “right here in the good ol’ U.S.A.”
South Korea, which has nuclear reactors, said it would fulfill its nuclear nonproliferation obligations throughout the process of securing and managing low-enriched uranium for the submarines.
“The Republic of Korea maintains a firm stance that it does not possess any form of nuclear weapons and will not develop them,” Ahn said.
Lee said after Ahn’s briefing that nuclear-powered submarines would be “a symbol of our determination to take responsibility for peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.”
U.S. nuclear submarine technology is considered among the most sensitive and tightly guarded military secrets.
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