South Korea's defence chief backs idea of building nuclear submarine at local shipyard

Seoul, Nov 5 South Korea's Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back on Wednesday expressed support for the idea of building a nuclear-powered submarine at a South Korean shipyard rather than a US facility, citing the country's shipbuilding capabilities.

Ahn made the remarks as South Korea has been pushing to acquire what would be its first nuclear-powered submarine, with President Lee Jae Myung asking US President Donald Trump last week to allow Seoul to secure fuel for such submarines during their summit, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Trump announced the following day that he has granted approval for South Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine rather than what he called "old-fashioned" and "far less nimble" diesel-powered submarines, adding the submarine will be built at the US shipyard owned by South Korea's Hanhwa Ocean.

"I believe it is fitting as we have researched and accumulated technology the past 30 years or so," Ahn told lawmakers in a plenary session of the parliamentary defence committee, when asked by Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the main opposition People Power Party whether the envisioned vessel should be manufactured at home.

Addressing concerns over the capacity of the US-based shipyard to build the nuclear-powered submarine, Ahn said he assesses there are some inadequacies in the shipyard's capabilities in terms of technology, facility and personnel.

Still, he added there have been no talks on where the submarine will be built.

When asked about whether the defence chiefs of South Korea and the United States discussed Seoul's push to retake wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington during their annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Seoul the previous day, Ahn said there was "significant progress."

"(The talks) acknowledged the South Korean military's leading capabilities, and there was significant progress," he said.

Seoul and Washington have been working on the "conditions-based" OPCON transfer, with conditions including South Korea's capabilities to lead combined Korea-US forces, its strike and air defence capabilities, and a regional security environment conducive to such a handover.

Ahn noted that a joint communique on the latest SCM will be announced once a joint fact sheet on Seoul and Washington's recently finalized tariff deal is released, saying interagency coordination efforts within the US government are likely to conclude "soon."

The fact sheet on the bilateral trade and security negotiations is expected to include details on South Korea's purchase of US weapons, estimated at USD 25 billion, over the next five years.

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