South Korea Navy Chief Recommends The Use of Nuclear-Powered Submarine

The South Korean Navy chief recommended the use of nuclear-powered submarines to counter the increasing threats and provocation from North Korea.

Admiral Um Hyun-seong, the chief of Naval Operations, said in a parliamentary audit that having nuclear-powered submarines will be helpful in many aspects. He also clarified that no decisions havebeen made on the matter. 

Admiral Um came into a response from a question by Representative Kim Hack-yong from the ruling Saenuri Party regarding the government's argument to create nuclear submarines to track and trail the North Korea's ballistic missile subs that can result in serious challenges to national security in the country.

In late August this year, Pyongyang launched a submarine ballistic missile (SLBM) that has been a success in the persepctive of Seoul.

"To have a nuclear submarine, a set of conditions should be considered by the defense ministry," Um said.

On Friday, October 7th, The chariman of Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Gen. Lee Sun-jin said that it is common for Seoul to study the possible development of its own nuclear submarines and to counter the rising provocations from Pyongyang.

The nuclear-powered submarines have a larger range and can effectively submerged for a long time as long as they have food and nuclear fuel.

The defense ministry said that the JCS are still in consideration and they don't have any decision yet about the possible installation of SM-3 missile defense system with a 500 kilometers in range. The decision regarding this matter will be reached in one to two years.

Furthermore, the military of South Korea plans to build the first three batches of submarines from the year 2020 to 2024 while the second batch of three submarines is from 2025 to 2027. The plan is yet to finalize for the building of the latest batch of submarines.