【By Observer Net, Yuan Jiaqi】
South Korea has begun to think about building a nuclear-powered submarine, which has raised concerns among South Korean military experts who are sensitive to such developments. They have spoken out directly about the disadvantages of this idea.
According to an article by "Hankook Ilbo" on the 31st, Kim Jong-dae, a South Korean military commentator and former justice party member, expressed a negative attitude towards the outcome of the South Korea-US summit. On that day, he posted on Facebook, warning that the idea of building a nuclear submarine is nothing more than a "national vanity driven by the illusion of great powers," and that South Korea "will only gain face, but lose money, time, and diplomatic autonomy."
Kim Jong-dae pointed out that true independence lies in ensuring "technical sovereignty and the independence of strategic judgment," which has nothing to do with whether South Korea has a nuclear submarine or not.
He urged South Korea not to be deceived by the idea of imitating powerful countries, warning that the nuclear submarine project would become an "ability trap" that South Korea cannot handle at all levels of finance, politics, and industry. "Each submarine will cost more than 20 billion won, and we can only operate one, let alone the fact that it will require several years of construction and agreement revisions."
He further warned that having a nuclear submarine would not enhance South Korea's strategic position, but could instead stimulate China and North Korea, igniting the spark of an arms race in Northeast Asia. "North Korea has publicly announced the start of nuclear submarine development, and China will certainly immediately strengthen its vigilance."
Regarding U.S. President Trump's statement that nuclear submarines must be built in American shipyards, Kim Jong-dae's concerns were even greater. He mentioned that the nuclear fuel for the nuclear submarine would inevitably depend on the United States' highly enriched uranium, and that the construction technology and maintenance would likely fall under the control system of the American shipbuilding industry.
"There is a risk that South Korea's independent defense industry may become part of America's industrial policy outsourcing system," he also emphasized. "Once we beg for fuel to obtain a nuclear submarine, the foundation of an independent defense policy will collapse on its own."
This expert earnestly reminded, "Independent defense does not come from the fuel rods of a nuclear submarine, but from the autonomy of technology and strategy."
Hyundai Philadelphia Shipyard, Yonhap News Agency
According to the report, compared to building a nuclear submarine, Kim Jong-dae is more in favor of the "K-Kill Web" strategy under the framework of "Defense Innovation 4.0" proposed by the Lee Jae-myung government. He believes this strategy, which builds a distributed combat force based on artificial intelligence, unmanned systems, and data fusion, better suits South Korea's actual strategic needs.
He explained that this strategy "does not rely on a few expensive assets, but rather creates a distributed combat force structure formed by a large number of intelligent small unmanned systems connected through a network."
"The real threat South Korea faces is not in the deep sea, but in coastal areas... The answer to the threats posed by North Korean small submarines, submarine-launched ballistic missile launch platforms, and mine warfare should not be large nuclear submarines, but flexible and agile unmanned systems," he added. "War in the 21st century is a battle of speed and networks... It is no longer the era where a single steel giant dominates the ocean. The ocean is controlled by a network composed of distributed sensors, artificial intelligence, and unmanned systems."
Kim Jong-dae further explained the reasons for opposing the construction of nuclear submarines from the perspective of differences in the operational environment. He pointed out that the operational environment of South Korea differs fundamentally from that of the US and Britain, which operate in open seas. "Our operating area is shallow coastal waters with noisy environments. In such an environment, nuclear submarines over 100 meters long would become inefficient and easily detectable 'excess combat power,' and investing a huge budget is completely inconsistent with the actual threat requirements."
Kim Jong-dae also calculated an economic account: the cost of building a nuclear submarine is approximately 20 billion won, and the daily operating cost is as high as 230 million won. If this budget were used to purchase hundreds of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), it would instead build a tactical intelligence network covering the entire East and West Seas that can respond in real time.
Nuclear-powered submarines are mainly used for military purposes, with strong underwater concealment and long endurance, capable of performing various combat missions, but their construction costs are far higher than those of diesel-electric submarines.
"Nikkei Asia" claims that Japan and South Korea currently only have diesel-electric submarines and have always relied on the U.S. nuclear submarine forces to "counterbalance" China and Russia.
The U.S. nuclear submarine technology is widely considered to be one of the most sensitive and tightly protected technologies held by the military. The U.S. maintains a very tight secrecy over this technical knowledge, and even the recent agreement with close allies Britain and Australia on nuclear submarines does not include terms for direct transfer of U.S. technical knowledge.
On October 29th, local time, U.S. President Trump met with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in Gyeongju. During the meeting, Lee requested the U.S. to provide nuclear fuel needed for nuclear-powered submarines to improve the combat capabilities of South Korean submarines. He also claimed that diesel-electric submarines have limited underwater endurance, so they "have limitations in tracking Chinese or North Korean submarines."
Trump did not directly respond to Lee's request, but he stated that the U.S. hopes to cooperate with South Korea in shipbuilding and joint defense. Trump said, "From the perspective of helping other countries, our defense is very important. We will take care of it and work with you."
However, the next day (October 30th), Trump posted on social media 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.
"The U.S.-South Korea military alliance is stronger than ever, and based on this, I have approved South Korea to build nuclear-powered submarines, not the old-fashioned, less flexible diesel-powered submarines they currently have," Trump added. "South Korea will build its nuclear-powered submarines right here in the U.S.A.! Our shipbuilding industry is about to experience a strong recovery. Stay tuned!"
The scale or cost of the submarine project is currently unclear, but the South Korean side stated during the meeting with Trump that they had committed to investing 150 billion dollars in the development of U.S. shipbuilding capacity.
The Yonhap News Agency pointed out that this is the first time the South Korean government has officially announced its intention to introduce nuclear-powered submarines.
The Korean newspaper "Chosun Ilbo" also mentioned that when South Korea announced a specific weapons plan, it explicitly referred to a specific country other than North Korea, which is an extremely rare statement. The Korean media evaluated that this indicates the Lee Jae-myung government is willing to join the U.S. "balancing China" activities at a certain cost.
On October 30th, local time, South Korean Foreign Minister Zhao Hyun-in held a press conference regarding the related cooperation matters and stated that South Korea and the U.S. are accelerating the process.
He also added, "South Korea has no intention of developing its own nuclear weapons." He stated that South Korea "enjoys the extended deterrence of the U.S., so there is absolutely no need to develop its own nuclear weapons."
In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jianjun responded on the 30th, stating that China has noted the situation and hopes that the U.S. and South Korea will genuinely fulfill their nuclear non-proliferation obligations and do things that promote regional peace and stability, rather than the opposite.
"We want to emphasize that China adheres to the path of peaceful development, implements a defensive national defense policy and friendly diplomacy with its neighbors, and is always a pillar of maintaining regional peace and security."
This article is an exclusive contribution from Observer Net. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7567374713715868212/
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