U.S. to Supply Fuel; Korea Develops Reactor Locally
The Presidential Office has revealed the reason for the delayed announcement of the “Joint Fact Sheet” containing details of Korea-U.S. tariff and security negotiations.
The delay is due to security issues, including the construction of nuclear-powered submarines, and the office has reaffirmed its position to build the submarines domestically.
The office explained that security sector discussions between the two countries had been completed without disagreement before the Korea-U.S. summit held during the APEC summit period, and through the summit, tariff negotiations were also dramatically concluded, leading to the pursuit of a Joint Fact Sheet that would combine both sectors at once.
However, it revealed that the announcement timing was delayed during additional discussions as nuclear-powered submarines requested by the Korean side were added as a new security issue during the summit.
A Presidential Office official said they recently received communication from the United States stating that “the review process among relevant departments needs to be conducted further and additional opinions from some departments need to be collected.”
The Presidential Office then clarified that nuclear-powered submarines would be built domestically.
A Presidential Office official stated, “In the dialogue between the two leaders of Korea and the United States, it was discussed that submarines would be built in Korea.”
The official added that the submarines would be pursued in a manner where the submarine hulls and reactors are manufactured domestically while highly enriched uranium for the reactors would be supplied by the United States.
The official added, “According to my records, there were parts where President Lee said we would build it here.”
The official continued, “The fuel component was agreed to be supplied by the United States, and we understand that the reactor will be developed and installed by us,” explaining that “it is not necessarily specified that highly enriched uranium must be used.”
A Presidential Office official conveyed the atmosphere, saying, “If the United States accepts the text that was previously agreed upon between Korea and the U.S. even now, it can be documented immediately, but if the U.S. side requests new text, it seems the time until announcement could be longer.”
Regarding the possibility of building Virginia-class submarines, the official said, “That would be difficult to view as suitable for our circumstances,” adding “It is extremely expensive, about twice the price we are considering. We need to develop our own model that fits Korea’s security needs and is suitable for Korean waters’ topography.”