U.S. Will Build Nuclear Submarine For South Korea To Strangle Chinese Navy

Illustrative image. (U.S. Army)

United States President Donald Trump announced on October 30 that he had given South Korea approval to build a nuclear-powered submarine as a part of the new trade deal between the two countries.

The submarine will be built in a Philadelphia shipyard, where South Korean firms have increased investment, according to Trump.

“South Korea will be building its Nuclear Powered Submarine in the Philadelphia Shipyards, right here in the good ol’ U.S.A. Shipbuilding in our Country will soon be making a BIG COMEBACK,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.

On October 29, Trump announced that the U.S. and South Korea reached a trade deal in which South Korea would pay the U.S. $350 billion in exchange for lower tariffs. The president also said that South Korea agreed to purchase U.S. oil and gas in “vast quantities.” He added that South Korea agreed to investments in the U.S. by South Korean companies and businesses that will exceed $600 billion.

Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung finalized details of the trade deal at a summit in South Korea earlier on the day.

Lee said during the meeting with Trump that allowing South Korea to build “several” nuclear-powered submarines equipped with conventional weapons would significantly reduce the burden on the U.S. military.

With an unlimited range, enhanced stealth, and months-long endurance, nuclear-powered submarines offer the ability to project power globally. Trump’s decision will allow South Korea to join a small club of nations possessing such advanced submarines.

South Korea wanted to build nuclear-powered submarines decades ago, but the United States had opposed this idea up until now.

Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back told lawmakers following Trump’s announcement that plans called for South Korea to build its own submarine and modular reactors, and receive a supply of enriched uranium fuel from the U.S.

During the same hearing, Seok Jong-gun, the minister for the defense acquisition program administration, revealed that South Korea had been developing small nuclear reactors for some time and would be able to build one for a submarine in less than the decade usually needed to develop such vessels.

The U.S. has been working with the United Kingdom on a project for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines since 2021 under the AUKUS trilateral security partnership. It’s worth noting that the UK itself got the technology to build such submarines with help from the U.S. in the 1950s.

Under the partnership, Australia is expected to get five Aukus-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. While Trump talked about a “submarine” for South Korea, the remarks of Lee, the U.S. deal with the UK and Australia and the sheer size of such a project suggest that the country will get several ones.

On the surface, South Korean desire to acquire nuclear-powered submarines is clearly meant to counter its main rival to the north.

North Korea announced its intention to develop nuclear-powered submarines in the 2021, and earlier this year it became known that the first such vessel is already being built. Unlike Seoul, however, Pyongyang is a nuclear power, meaning it needs such submarines to secure a second-strike capability.

Trump’s decision to help South Korea build nuclear-powered submarines is likely more meant to counter China, whose navy saw significant growth in recent decades. In fact, AUKUS was widely seen as a response to the perception among the U.S., UK and Australia that China poses a threat to the Indo-Pacific region.

Even with a few nuclear-powered submarines, South Korea will be able to challenge the Chinese Navy in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea and wider Western Pacific Ocean.

Commenting on the deal, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing “hopes that South Korea and the United States will earnestly fulfill their nuclear non-proliferation obligations and do things to promote regional peace and stability, and not the other way around”.

China could respond to the deal by helping North Korea bolster its naval capabilities. Relations between the two countries saw an improvement in recent months with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending China’s largest-ever “Victory Day” military parade in Beijing last September.

In fact, Beijing can’t afford not to react, as the next step for the U.S. will likely be to help Japan acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Reports from as recent as this month suggest that Tokyo is seriously considering this.

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