SEOUL: South Korea will seek to launch its first nuclear-powered submarine by the mid-2030s, under a new programme aimed at countering North Korea’s submarine-launched nuclear and missile threats, officials said on Tuesday (May 26).
Seoul has long sought to join an elite group of nations operating nuclear-powered submarines in a move that could reshape Asia’s security landscape and escalate an underwater arms race.
“The nuclear-powered submarine, which will be built on the basis of a strong South Korea-US alliance, is a symbol of our will to take responsibility for peace and security on the Korean Peninsula,” President Lee Jae Myung told a committee examining the country’s future defence strategy.
The submarine will use low-enriched uranium fuel and be developed and built in South Korea, Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said, laying out South Korea’s basic plan for securing nuclear-powered submarines.
Ahn said the programme would draw on South Korea’s nuclear, shipbuilding and defence industries, while maintaining Seoul’s commitment not to acquire or develop nuclear weapons.
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