With the US eager to redefine the terms of its alliances in Asia, last week publicly endorsed the idea of , adding that the first vessel will be made in the US.
“South Korea will be building its Nuclear Powered Submarine in the Philadelphia Shipyards,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Seoul was quick to praise this decision — South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back told a parliamentary meeting on the same day that a nuclear-powered submarine would have “huge” military significance.
currently operates conventional submarines, which run on a combination of diesel and electric power. But nuclear-powered vessels would offer improved speed and endurance to counter , according to Ahn.
And while Pyongyang has yet to officially comment, analysts say it is likely that ‘s regime is bound to respond with anger and almost certainly announce its own military countermeasures to the South’s submarine switch.
South Korea in full-on arms race, could ‘go nuclear’
Experts warn that North and South Korea are quickly ratcheting up an arms race, and other nations across Northeast Asia are also .
“I do not think there is any doubt: we are already in an arms race,” said Andrei Lankov, a professor of history and international relations at Seoul’s Kookmin University.
“There is growing fear among allies in the region ,” he told DW.
“Trump never seems to get tired of saying he has had enough of his parasitic allies, which means South Korea and Japan, and he could at any time announce that the US was going to pack up and leave.”
“For both countries, that would be a real threat, but particularly for South Korea with a nuclear-armed enemy which has attacked numerous times in the past on its border,” Lankov said.
“It is therefore natural that Seoul is going to dramatically increase its military potential and, possibly, go nuclear,” he added.
The second factor is ‘s “extremely rapid” military development over the last decade, said Lankov, which has seen and expand .
More recently, that military leap forward has been assisted by Russia. It is widely believed that Moscow is supplying Pyongyang with miniaturized reactors that it needs to power its own planned nuclear-powered submarines.
The third inescapable factor is the armament of China, which is devoting huge efforts to expanding its armed forces and equipping them with the most advanced military systems available.
Pyongyang shows force ahead of Trump’s visit
“China wants to reassert its previous role in East Asia as the pre-eminent power center that no-one else is able to challenge,” Lankov said.
At the same time, the US is increasingly looking to “disengage” from the region, according to Lankov, which poses a serious challenge even if some US troops remain on the Korean Peninsula.
Furthermore, any threats to South Korea are made more serious by Pyongyang’s deepening alliance with Russia and a more long-standing understanding with China.
Those alliances also permit Pyongyang to be more aggressive.
The regime said it tested a hypersonic missile in the week before Trump arrived in South Korea ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum on November 1 and fired a battery of cruise missiles even closer to his arrival.
Pyongyang also carried out missile and artillery launches this Monday, the same day when US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited the Demilitarized Zone.
Taipei, Tokyo invest more in weapons
Elsewhere in the region, is putting its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, through sea trials while also increasingly testing the air and sea defenses of both Japan — around the Okinawa islands — and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
Beijing also has long-term ambitions to gain control over Taiwan, which it sees as a breakaway province. Taipei is increasing its own military spending, notably through the purchase of 66 F16V fighters and glide bombs from the US.
has also embarked on a significant defense build-up, investing heavily in maritime and air assets as well as advanced new missiles, a larger submarine force and sea and air drones.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told Trump during their meeting in Tokyo late last month that Japan was increasing defense expenditure from 1% of GDP to 2% by the start of the next fiscal year, which opens on April 1.
Japan has also signed a deal to and is in talks with the New Zealand government about another deal for warships.
At the same time, Tokyo has agreed to provide the Philippines with coastal patrol aircraft and advanced radar systems to help Manila’s forces better monitor Chinese ships operating in disputed waters in the South China Sea.
Time of relative peace drawing to a close
Dan Pinkston, a professor of international relations at the Seoul campus of Troy University, said Asian nations have enjoy decades of relative peace, but that peace is now unraveling.
Pinkston told DW that many east Asian nations have developed economically and now have enough funds to invest in their militaries.
Pinkston also warned that buying nuclear-powered submarines could be a stepping stone to , regardless of Seoul’s support of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“We can never be sure under Trump about the details of the agreements that he makes or what he is going to propose next,” said Pinkston, citing the US president’s unexpected endorsement regarding South Korea and nuclear-powered submarines.
“But after that, will South Korea do everything on its own?” he asked.
“They are planning to buy US enriched uranium for the reactors, but South Korea has its own reactors and they could enrich their own fuel. And why stop there as the next stage is developing their own nuclear weapons,” he said.
“If the plan is for these submarines to have missiles with conventional warheads, it is not a great step to designing a nuclear warhead is that is Seoul decides it needs for its own security,” he said. “That is the potential we are already getting close to,” he added.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic
The post South Korea: Nuclear-powered subs enter race with Pyongyang appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
