U.S. President Donald Trump has said he has granted South Korea approval to build a nuclear-powered submarine.

Trump announced the decision on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, stating that the submarine would be built at a shipyard in Philadelphia, where South Korean firms have recently increased investment. He added that the approval allows South Korea to move away from “old-fashioned, and far less nimble, diesel-powered submarines.”

The announcement was made during Trump’s visit to South Korea, where he met President Lee Jae Myung and other regional leaders. During the visit, both sides finalised a trade deal and agreed on increased cooperation in defence and energy. Trump said South Korea had agreed to buy large amounts of U.S. oil and gas.

South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy later said its officials had not been involved in detailed discussions regarding submarine construction in Philadelphia, suggesting that the talks are still in early stages.

During the meeting with Trump, President Lee said that allowing South Korea to build several nuclear-powered submarines with conventional weapons would help reduce the burden on the U.S. military. He also asked for U.S. support to allow South Korea to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and enrich uranium, activities currently banned under the nuclear agreement between the two countries.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, said that the issue of South Korea acquiring nuclear-powered submarines “raises all sorts of questions.” He explained that such submarines often use highly enriched uranium, which would require a new and complex monitoring system by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

Kimball also said that South Korea does not need to gain the ability to extract plutonium or enrich uranium, as these technologies can also be used to make nuclear weapons. He added that if the U.S. wants to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, it should apply the same caution with allies as it does with rivals.

Jenny Town, director of the Korea-focused research group 38 North, said it was expected that South Korea would seek more U.S. cooperation on nuclear issues, especially after reports that Russia is helping North Korea develop nuclear-powered submarines.

Kyungnam University professor Kim Dong-yup said the Lee-Trump summit represented a “transaction scheme of security guarantees and economic contributions.” He said the agreement could be seen as the “commercialisation of the alliance and the commodification of peace,” adding that the deal seemed to serve American interests more than South Korea’s independence.

Previous South Korean governments had also wanted to build nuclear-powered submarines, but the U.S. had opposed the idea for decades.

Reference: Reuters