The South Korean government is moving to announce its basic plan for a nuclear-powered submarine program as early as the end of this month, sources said.
According to diplomatic sources on Saturday, the Ministry of National Defense is preparing to release the "Korean-Style Nuclear Submarine Basic Plan," which will outline the government's fundamental principles and a specific timeline for the program. The plan is also expected to include measures for securing fuel and funding, a commitment to comply with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime, and principles for cooperating with verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Seoul and Washington agreed to cooperate on South Korea's introduction of nuclear-powered submarines at the Gyeongju summit in October last year. However, follow-up discussions have been delayed due to issues including slow progress on investment commitments to the United States and the Coupang issue.
The recent series of visits to Washington by senior foreign affairs and security officials also appears to be linked to the bilateral nuclear submarine discussions. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back recently traveled to the United States and discussed the nuclear submarine issue with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo is also scheduled to meet with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Under Secretary for Political Affairs Allison Hooker in Washington from the 18th to the 21st. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it "plans to hold in-depth discussions on a wide range of topics, including follow-up measures to the joint fact sheet from the Korea-U.S. summit, bilateral pending issues, and regional and global issues."
