Lee calls for stepped-up efforts to acquire nuclear-powered submarines

President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday instructed officials to accelerate efforts to fulfill South Korea's plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. The president made the call during a Cabinet meeting, highlighting the need to enhance the country's self-defense capabilities amid North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats. In a fact sheet released after a South Korea-U.S. summit late last year, Washington expressed support for Seoul to build nuclear-powered, conventionally armed attack submarines, and to pursue civilian uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing for peaceful purposes. "We need to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence and drone technologies, while speeding up the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, which are core strategic assets for future defense capabilities," Lee said. Lee also stressed the need for the swift transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean troops from Washington to Seoul during the meeting. The president insisted that "friends will respect us and alliances will be maintained more strongly" when the country

Original source: Korea Times