South Korean President Says Building Nuclear Submarines in the US Would Be ‘Extremely Difficult’

South Korea’s president stated on Wednesday that it would be “extremely difficult” to construct its nuclear-powered submarines in the United States under an agreement with Washington.

South Korea is expected to join the limited group of nations operating nuclear-powered submarines after receiving approval from the United States for the supply of restricted nuclear fuel.

However, the production site for the submarines remains undecided.

US President Donald Trump has claimed on Truth Social that Seoul would manufacture its nuclear-powered submarine at “the Philadelphia Shipyards, right here in the good ol’ U.S.A.”

But South Korean President Lee Jae Myung told a press conference on Wednesday that the matter “still needs continued negotiation.”

“From our perspective, producing them there is extremely difficult realistically,” he said.

“I fully understand the desire to do it, but we need to consider realistically whether it is truly feasible,” he added.

He emphasised that Seoul’s longstanding position was to manufacture the submarines domestically.

“What we asked for was not ‘build it for us’ or ‘give us the technology’,” Lee said.

“Our position was simply that we will build it with our own technology, so just allow fuel supply for what is currently prohibited.”

US nuclear submarine technology is considered among the most sensitive and closely guarded military secrets.

Khaborwala/SS