South Korea, US Launch Security Talks on Nuclear Submarines, Uranium Enrichment

By Oh Seok-min

SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States launched their first round of talks Tuesday to implement a set of security agreements reached by their leaders last year, including Seoul's push to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The inaugural two-day talks began in the day at the foreign ministry building in Seoul, focusing on security-related provisions in a bilateral joint fact sheet issued following a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump in October.

Key agenda items are expected to include Seoul's push to build nuclear-powered submarines, secure the right to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes and expand shipbuilding cooperation between the two sides.

"The meeting carries significance in that long-delayed security consultations have finally begun and are back on track," foreign ministry spokesperson Park Il said at a press briefing.

"Cooperation and partnership between South Korea and the U.S. in the nuclear sector will help deepen and broaden the bilateral alliance," he added, stressing the government's commitment to fully implementing the agreed-upon issues.

The joint fact sheet outlines a range of commitments by both sides, including cooperation in the nuclear sector and other security-related issues, as well as Seoul's pledge to invest US$350 billion in the U.S. in exchange for a reduced U.S. tariff rate.

First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo leads the South Korean delegation, which includes officials from the presidential office, as well as the defense, science and industry ministries.

The U.S. delegation is led by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker and includes Ivan Kanapathy, senior director for Asia at the National Security Council (NSC), Matthew Napoli, deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, and other officials from the Department of Energy and related agencies.

The kickoff meeting had initially been expected to take place earlier this year but was delayed as Washington focused on other priorities, including the Middle East conflict.

The U.S. had also raised concerns over delays in Seoul's legislative process for its investment pledge and a probe into the U.S.-listed e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. over a massive data breach, among other issues.

In a post on X, Hooker said she was "pleased" to launch the discussions "to advance bilateral nuclear cooperation initiatives," expressing hope for "further deepening and modernizing our cooperation" and "continued progress across the bilateral relationship in the years to come."

While in South Korea, Hooker is also scheduled to hold separate meetings with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and other senior officials here.

Despite the delay in launching the consultative body, the two sides have continued working-level discussions and are expected to move quickly into substantive talks at the inaugural meeting, according to the officials.

In an interview with Yonhap News Agency last week, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said South Korea seeks to revise the bilateral nuclear energy pact, known as the 123 Agreement, "as soon as possible" to enable uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. The government also hopes to accelerate cooperation in nuclear-powered submarines and shipbuilding.

South Korea is effectively prohibited from enriching uranium and reprocessing spent nuclear fuel under the existing agreement.

Last week, South Korea unveiled a road map for developing nuclear-powered attack submarines fueled by low-enriched uranium, with the first vessel targeted for launch in the mid-2030s.