South Korea Targets Nuclear Submarine Launch By 2030

UNSPLASH/Daniil Zameshev ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - South Korea is expected to launch its first domestic nuclear-powered submarine by mid-2030s.

The optimism comes after the United States signaled support for Seoul's efforts, following a summit last week between leaders of the two countries.

Deputy Minister of Defense for Resources Management, Won Chong-dae, said in a cabinet meeting that South Korea and the United States had made progress in discussing the supply of fuel the most challenging issues in the nuclear-powered submarine development project.

"We expect the submarine to be launched in the mid-2030s if South Korea manages to secure fuel by consulting with the US and starting construction in the late 2020s," Won said as quoted by ANTARA from Yonhap, Tuesday, November 4.

Won also said that the government plans to form a cross-institutional task force to lead the project.

At a summit on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Gyeongju last week, President Lee Jae Myung publicly asked US President Donald Trump to allow his country to secure a supply of nuclear fuel for conventional armed submarines.

The move, said Lee, aims to increase South Korea's ability to track North Korean and Chinese ships, as well as ease the operational burden of US troops in the region.

After the meeting, President Trump wrote on social media he had given South Korea approval to build a nuclear-powered submarine at the Philadelphia shipyard operated by South Korean company Hanwha Ocean.