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The United States will share closely held technology to allow South Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday after talks with the country’s leader. “I have given them approval to build a Nuclear Powered Submarine, rather than the old fashioned, and far less nimble, diesel powered Submarines that they have now,” he said in a social media. President Lee Jae-myung stressed to Trump in their Wednesday meeting that the goal was to modernise the alliance with the US, noting plans to increase military spending to reduce the financial burden on America. The South Korean leader said there might have been a misunderstanding when they last spoke in August about nuclear-powered submarines, saying that his government was looking for nuclear fuel rather than weapons. Lee said that if South Korea was equipped with nuclear-powered submarines, it could help US activities in the region. Trump said the submarine would be built in Philadelphia. US nuclear submarine technology is widely regarded as some of the most sensitive and highly guarded technology the military possesses. The US has been incredibly protective of that knowledge, and even a recently announced deal with close allies the United Kingdom and Australia to help the latter acquire nuclear submarine technology does not feature the US directly transferring its knowledge. Trump’s post on social media comes ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country possesses nuclear submarines, and after North Korea in March unveiled for the first time a nuclear-powered submarine under construction. It is a weapons system that can pose a major security threat to South Korea and the US. As Trump visited South Korea, North Korea said on Wednesday it conducted successful cruise missile tests, the latest display of its growing military capabilities. Pentagon officials did not immediately respond to questions about Trump’s announcement on sharing the nuclear sub technology with South Korea. Additional reporting by Reuters
