Seoul and Washington finalized an agreement in November on the construction of this type of submarines for the South Korean navy, but the construction site has not been determined.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung declared this Wednesday that it will be “extremely difficult” to manufacture nuclear-powered submarines in the United States.
“From our point of view, producing them there is extremely difficult, to be realistic,” said the head of state, at a press conference.
Seoul and Washington finalized an agreement in November on the construction of this type of submarine for the South Korean navy, but the construction site has not been determined.
A joint note detailed that the two countries committed to “continuing collaboration in the field of shipbuilding through a specific working group.”
In October, after having given “yes” to an agreement in principle for the manufacture of a nuclear-powered submarine for the South Korean ally, North American President Donald Trump wrote on the social network X and on Truth Social, which he owns, that it would be built in Philadelphia, in the United States.
This Wednesday, the South Korean President indicated that the issue “still requires discussions”.
Lee Jae-myung stressed that Seoul’s position has always been to produce the submarines domestically.
“What we asked for was not ‘build them for us’ or ‘give us the technology,'” he said.
“Our position was simply that we would build them with our own technology, so just authorize the fuel supply,” he added.
