▲ President Lee Jae-myung listens to a report on the basic plan for developing a nuclear-powered submarine by Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back during the 1st Future Defense Strategy Committee meeting held in Jinhae-gu, Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do, on the 26th.
Dedicated organizations have been established within the Ministry of National Defense and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) to push forward the project for South Korea's nuclear-powered submarine.
The Ministry of National Defense announced that the Cabinet meeting presided over by President Lee Jae-myung today (August 11) approved amendments to the "Decree on the Ministry of National Defense and its Affiliated Agencies" and the "Decree on the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and its Affiliated Agencies" containing these measures.
The Ministry of National Defense has newly established the Nuclear-Powered Submarine Policy Planning Team, which will oversee the establishment of policies and systems for acquiring nuclear submarines and lead cooperation among related agencies.
The team will be tasked with responsibilities including the National Assembly's enactment of a special law on nuclear-powered submarines, establishing the foundation for nuclear fuel utilization through consultations with the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and building regulatory frameworks for nuclear safety regarding nuclear submarines.
DAPA is set to expand and reorganize its existing Korea Submarine Project Group into the Nuclear-Powered Submarine Project Group, while newly creating the Nuclear-Powered Submarine Business Team and the Nuclear Propulsion System Business Team to lead the entire process of nuclear submarine design and construction, as well as the development of core technologies such as nuclear reactors for nuclear submarines.
The government is pushing for the introduction of a South Korean nuclear submarine project using low-enriched uranium with an enrichment level of under 20 percent, under the project name "Changbogo-N."
The policy aims to launch the lead ship in the mid-2030s and deploy it for operational service in the late 2030s.
Although specific specifications have not been disclosed, military authorities are known to plan the development of three 8,000-ton-class nuclear submarines.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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