【Text by Observer Net, Wang Yi】Two weeks after U.S. President Trump met with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and announced agreement on tariff and security issues, the South Korea and U.S. have not yet released any written agreement. According to a report by Reuters on November 11, the delay seems mainly due to differences between the two sides on the construction of nuclear-powered submarines. Analysts said that it is questionable whether the U.S. is willing to transfer sensitive technology.

During last month's South Korea-U.S. summit, Lee Jae-myung requested the U.S. to provide nuclear fuel for South Korean nuclear-powered submarines to enhance the combat capability of South Korean submarines. Trump did not directly respond to Lee Jae-myung's request at the time, but he posted on social media platforms on October 30 that the U.S. would share nuclear propulsion technology with South Korea to help the South Korean Navy build at least one nuclear-powered submarine.

On October 29, Lee Jae-myung and Trump attended the APEC meeting dinner. IC Photo

The report said that officials from both countries had previously stated that they would soon release a fact list detailing the consensus reached on security issues, including the nuclear submarine project, and also publish the trade agreement reached in July. According to this agreement, South Korea will invest billions of dollars in the U.S. to obtain tariff reductions.

However, on November 9, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Min-seok told KBS TV that "since the proposal to build a nuclear-powered submarine, it seems that various departments in the U.S. need time to coordinate their positions."

A senior official from the South Korean presidential office also revealed on the 7th that the U.S. has approved South Korea's use of nuclear fuel to build submarines, but due to continuous feedback and adjustments from the U.S. side, the final text of the fact list has not been finalized yet.

Reuters noted that there are inconsistencies in the statements of the two countries regarding the location of the nuclear submarine construction. Lee Jae-myung advocated building nuclear-powered submarines within South Korea, while Trump recently said that the nuclear submarines had been approved, but would be built in U.S. shipyards. Analysts believe that this indicates doubts about whether the U.S. is willing to transfer sensitive technology to South Korea.

According to Yonhap News Agency, on May 5, Kim Min-seok, when attending a plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Defense Committee, said that nuclear-powered submarines should be built domestically in South Korea. He pointed out that South Korea has over 30 years of technical experience in this field and has been deeply studying it, while the U.S. Philadelphia Shipyard currently has significant shortcomings in technological strength, human resources, and facilities.

Beneath the cooperation on nuclear submarines between South Korea and the U.S., it is actually a core layout of Trump's push for the revival of the American shipbuilding industry. The Wall Street Journal on the 10th pointed out that the U.S. has long struggled with the decline of its shipbuilding industry, while China accounts for about 60% of the global commercial shipbuilding market, South Korea 22%, and the U.S. less than 1%.

Trump's dream of revitalizing the shipbuilding industry highly depends on South Korea's assistance. The U.S.-South Korea cooperation projects include repairing U.S. warships, assisting in designing naval supply ships, and helping U.S. companies expand production, train workers, and improve efficiency.

Among them, the Hanwha Ocean Shipyard in Philadelphia, the U.S. is expected to play a key role. Hanwha plans to invest $5 billion to rebuild the shrinking shipbuilding workforce and supply chain, increasing annual production from one commercial ship to 20 ships, adding thousands of workers, introducing heavy cranes, robots, and training facilities. Hanwha even set an internal goal to build 2 to 3 nuclear-powered submarines annually in Philadelphia over the next decade.

However, due to the high secrecy of U.S. nuclear technology, Hanwha has never built a nuclear-powered submarine before.

Industry observers analyzed that the Trump administration is relatively cautious towards partners and allies, making it difficult to ensure the continuity of long-term U.S.-South Korea cooperation. Some scholars in South Korea have reminded that the South Korean shipbuilding industry has been in crisis for nearly a decade, just coming out of intensive care (ICU), and now being entrusted with major responsibilities may cause pressure on itself.

In addition, the draft of the South Korea-U.S. trade agreement and specific details have not been made public yet. A South Korean trade ministry official said, "The draft of the tariff part is basically completed, and it will be made public after the joint fact list is prepared."

On November 11, South Korean Minister of Industry, Trade and Energy Kim Jung-hwan said during a parliamentary hearing that the negotiations on the joint fact list have entered the final stage. However, he did not mention the specific publication time. Kim Jung-hwan also revealed that the memorandum of understanding for South Korea's $350 billion investment in the U.S. has been prepared, but has not been signed yet, and the signing method and time are still under discussion.

Professor Jeong Han-beom of the Korea National Defense University's Security Policy Studies Department analyzed for the Korea Herald that the biggest obstacle to the South Korea-U.S. trade and security agreements at present is the issue of review authority. The entity responsible for reviewing whether to approve South Korea's use of enriched uranium as a new submarine fuel is not the U.S. State Department or the Department of Defense, but the Department of Energy, "they will only consider it from their own policy perspective, not from the perspective of the U.S.-South Korea alliance."

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