South Korea claims that having nuclear-capable submarines in its arsenal is necessary against China, Russia, and North Korea. However, this may be difficult for the Asian country to achieve because it is still under the ROK-US nuclear agreement.
South Korean Navy's 209 class submarine surfaced gradually during the international fleet review on the sea near the southern port city of Busan on October 7, 2008. The fleet review is part of festivities planned this year to mark the 60th foundation anniversary of the nation's armed forces.
Because of this, two major parties of South Korea are now requesting to revise the nuclear agreement with the U.S. If the Biden Admin accepts their requests, it could allow SoKor to obtain nuclear submarine capabilities.
South Korea Says Nuclear-Capable Submarines are Needed
Admiral Kim Myung-soo, the new SoKor military's Joint Chief of Staff chairman, said that the country needs to have nuclear submarine capabilities (SSN).
"While those capabilities are needed, there are clear limitations as to what South Korea can do due to the current ROK-US nuclear agreement restricts the use of nuclear materials in military use," said the South Korean admiral via Naval News.
SSN capabilities are no longer new to South Korea. However, it is expected that Myung-soo will ask for more since North Korea's threat is getting more intense; both in qualitative and quantitative ways.
Many experts agree that SSN capabilities are definitely essential to South Korea. One of them is Prof. Jeeyong Kim at the South Korean Naval Academy.
He explained that Korean nuclear submarine capabilities (K-SSN) are "second to none," claiming that this military technology will be an effective deterrent against threats posed by North Korea, China, as well as Russia.
Jeeyong Kim further stated that if the ROK Navy gets a sizable fleet of nuclear-capable submarines, then North Korea will have a hard time threatening their country.
As of writing, multiple South Korean admirals, as well as the Minister of Defense himself, expressed their interest in getting more K-SSN capabilities. However, since restrictions are still imposed by the ROK-US nuclear agreement, the SSN effort of SoKor still has a long journey ahead.
North Korea's Nuclear Arsenal Intensifies
U.S. Ballistic Missile Submarine USS Kentucky is anchored in Busan Naval Base on July 19, 2023 in Busan, South Korea. U.S. and South Korea held the first Nuclear Consultative Group meeting in Seoul on Tuesday and announced an American nuclear submarine was making a port visit to Busan for the first time since 1981.
While SoKor is having a hard time expanding its K-SSN, The Japan Times reported that North Korea successfully tested new solid-fuel engines for its IRBMs (intermediate-range ballistic missiles).
This just shows that NoKor's nuclear arsenal is intensifying further. Because of this achievement, many military experts shared their concerns regarding the country's expanding nuclear capabilities.
Some of them said that the successful test could be a sign that the next step of North Korea is to conduct a flight test of the new IRBMs.
Related Article: North Korea Successfully Tests Solid-Fuel Engines for Intermediate-Range Nuclear Ballistic Missiles
