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Lawmaker says Korea should pursue nuclear submarine after Trump pulls aid from Ukraine

Published: 07 Mar. 2025, 16:13

MICHAEL LEE
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U.S. President Donald Trump, right, has a heated discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Feb. 28. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

South Korean politicians are calling on the country to bolster its own defense capabilities — and recalibrate its reliance on U.S. security guarantees — following U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of Seoul and the abrupt collapse of his summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this week.

Trump’s decision to suspend military aid to Kyiv, following a heated exchange with Zelensky in the Oval Office on Monday, has reverberated across U.S. allies, including Seoul.

The row began after Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of insufficient gratitude for American support, a claim the Ukrainian president vehemently denied.

Trump compounded South Korean unease by falsely accusing Seoul of imposing high tariffs on U.S. goods while simultaneously benefiting from the presence of American troops in a speech before Congress on Tuesday.

In the wake of these developments, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) asserted on Thursday that South Korea must pursue the acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine.

Nuclear-powered submarines, capable of extended submerged operations and long-range deployments, are considered a crucial component of a nation’s ability to retaliate against a nuclear attack.

In a post on Facebook, Ahn argued that the breakdown of the U.S.-Ukraine summit underscores Seoul’s vulnerability to downturns in its alliance with Washington.

“The breakdown of the recent summit between the United States and Ukraine shows that South Korea’s national interests and security could be compromised at any time,” Ahn said.

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the conservative People Power Party speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Feb. 23. [YONHAP]

He further cited Trump’s characterization of Pyongyang as a “nuclear power” in January — a phrase U.S. officials have typically avoided — as indicative of a potential wavering U.S. commitment to North Korea’s denuclearization.

Ahn proposed that Seoul negotiate the development of a domestic nuclear-powered submarine program with Washington in return for allowing the United States to “use South Korean shipbuilding expertise to rebuild its naval strength.”

He also outlined a broader strategy to enhance South Korean defense capabilities, including the strengthening of information-sharing mechanisms among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo; the elevation of the bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group to a Nuclear Planning Group; and the pursuit of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing rights through a revision of the U.S.-South Korea civil nuclear pact.

The PPP lawmaker advocated that Seoul adopt a fundamentally different approach to its relationship with Washington, one that balances Trump’s demands with South Korea’s own strategic imperatives.

“The Trump administration prioritizes U.S. national interests and cost-effectiveness. We must negotiate with a mindset of conceding what they deem necessary and demanding what we need,” Ahn said.

He further suggested that if Trump seeks a renegotiation of the South Korea-U.S. defense cost-sharing agreement, Seoul should seize the opportunity “to initiate discussions on the sharing of advanced nuclear weapons.”

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]