Overview
- The joint fact sheet confirms U.S. approval for South Korea to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines and supports a process toward civil uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing subject to U.S. law and the bilateral 123 agreement.
- U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said using the future submarines to help counter China is a “natural expectation” and suggested South Korea would face greater global deployment responsibilities.
- Negotiations remain at an early stage with unresolved questions over which submarine classes to build, where to build them, which navy receives them first and how fuel would be sourced.
- Talks described by people familiar include a Korean-led joint production concept that could span yards in both countries, with Hanwha’s Philadelphia shipyard cited as a candidate despite needing major upgrades for nuclear work.
- The agreement sits within a larger economic package reported to include about $350 billion in South Korean investment in the U.S. and a reduction of reciprocal tariffs to 15 percent, while officials caution any submarine build-out will take years.