Trump Greenlights Building Nuclear-Powered Sub For South Korea

President Donald Trump approved plans for South Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine at a US shipyard about a day after Seoul pressed Washington to obtain nuclear fuel for submarines. 

“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,” Trump said in a social media post Thursday.

The move comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is stepping up his naval fighting force, building new destroyers that weapons experts have said incorporate Russian systems, and this week testing ship-to-surface cruise missiles. 

President Lee Jae Myung made the request at a bilateral meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Lee said conventionally armed submarines would help his country better track North Korean and Chinese vessels, easing the operational burden on US forces. 

Lee’s office later clarified that he was referring to submarines operating in South Korean waters facing North Korea and China, not to specific countries.

Trump said South Korea would be building the submarine in the Philadelphia shipyards, touting it as a boost for the US shipbuilding industry. The two countries finalized a trade deal after the leaders’ meeting, including a $150 billion investment in US shipbuilding sector.