Trump Greenlights Plan for South Korea to Build Nuclear-Powered Submarine

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(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump approved a South Korean request to build a nuclear-powered submarine at an American shipyard, a weapon President Lee Jae Myung said would help track North Korean and Chinese vessels and ease the burden on US forces.

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The announcement Thursday, which followed a request from Lee a day earlier, suggests South Korea may be willing to play a larger regional role in its alliance with the US, although Lee’s office later said he was referring to vessels in waters near North Korea and China rather than specific countries.

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“Our Military Alliance is stronger than ever before and, based on that, I have given them approval to build a Nuclear Powered Submarine, rather than the old fashioned, and far less nimble diesel powered Submarines that they have now,” the US president said in a social media post.

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The move came just before Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Xi met Trump there and will later have talks with Lee. While the US remains Seoul’s sole ally, China is South Korea’s largest trading partner, and the announcement could complicate Lee’s meeting with Xi set for Saturday.

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South Korea has long sought nuclear-powered submarines but needs access to nuclear propulsion technology and enriched uranium fuel. The US has shared such technology only with the UK and, under the Aukus pact, with Australia.

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Lee’s government says the submarines would be conventionally armed, but details remain unclear. Navy Chief Admiral Kang Dong-gil told parliament it would take at least a decade to complete a vessel of about 5,000 tons, while Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the country may need at least four and must upgrade a Philadelphia shipyard owned by Hanwha Ocean Co. to build them.

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This month China imposed curbs on five US units of Hanwha Ocean over its plans to invest in the American maritime sector — a move Lee described as Beijing’s veiled threat.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sought a nuclear-powered submarine for years. While the country’s fleet is one of the world’s largest, most of the vessels are small, outdated, and too noisy to venture far from shore without being tracked.

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State media this year said a nuclear submarine is in development, fueling speculation Pyongyang received Russian help in exchange for supplying troops and munitions to Moscow for its war in Ukraine. Kim is also expanding his navy, building new destroyers that experts say incorporate Russian systems, and this week testing ship-to-surface cruise missiles. 

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Nuclear-powered submarines can stay submerged much longer than diesel vessels and are quieter, making them harder to track, especially when patrolling vast areas such as the Pacific Ocean.

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In parliament, Ahn linked South Korea’s submarine plans to North Korea’s ambitions. “Diesel-powered submarines simply cannot match the underwater endurance or the speed of the nuclear-powered submarines that North Korea is developing. So from a military perspective, this development carries tremendous significance and marks a decisive moment for securing a key strategic asset,” he said.