USA Gives South Korea Green Light to Build Nuclear Submarines

Summary

Revealed on October 29th, U.S President Donald Trump has announced that the U.S government has given the go ahead for South Korea to build Nuclear Submarines on U.S soil. Story by Ethan Gossrow, additional reporting by Eunhyuk Cha. The announcement came following a meeting with various Asian heads of state including South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung in Gyeongju, South Korea. Additional posts by Trump on Truth Social have detailed that the Submarines will be built on U.S soil at the Philadelphia shipyards, which were acquired by the Korean defense firm Hanwha late in 2024. Screenshot of an announcement made by President Trump stating that South Korean Nuclear submarines will be built in the United States. Subsequently, the construction of Nuclear submarines marks a departure from past efforts, as previous South Korean submarine construction has focused primarily on conventionally powered submarines. In tandem with this, South Korean Nuclear Submarine construction projects have remained in limbo for sometime as the U.S had not given tacit approval until President Trump’s statement. “Our (U.S and South Korea’s) military alliance is stronger than ever before, and based on that, I have given them approval to build a Nuclear Powered Submarine.”United States President Donald Trump via Truth Social Post However, as the Philadelphia Shipyards where construction will take place is not currently equipped to handle the construction of Nuclear Submarines (only commercial vessels have been produced), Hanwha has reportedly invested an additional $5 billion dollars into modernization and preparation. Despite this, there has been a lack of a concrete agreement regarding the development of the shipyards and a plan for the construction of the submarines with no official signature from the South Korean side. These agreements are the conclusion of a long standing desire for nuclear powered submarines expressed by the South Korean government and military. Naval News has previously rep...