Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 29, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleTrump approves South Korea's nuclear submarine project, to be built in the US. South Korea also agrees to buy US oil and gas.
(Reuters) -President Donald Trump wrote on social media on Thursday that he has given South Korea approval to build a nuclear-powered submarine and that it will take place in the United States, in comments made during his trip to Asia.
Trump, who has been meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and other regional leaders during his visit, also said Seoul had agreed to buy vast quantities of U.S. oil and gas.
Trump and Lee finalized details of a fraught trade deal at a summit in South Korea on Wednesday.
Lee had also been seeking U.S. permission for South Korea to reprocess nuclear fuel to power submarines that could track North Korean and Chinese vessels for longer periods.
Seoul is barred from reprocessing without U.S. consent, under a pact between the countries.
"I have given them approval to build a Nuclear Powered Submarine, rather than the old fashioned, and far less nimble, diesel powered Submarines that they have now," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.
Trump said the submarine will be built in Philadelphia.
(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Leslie Adler)
A nuclear-powered submarine is a type of submarine that uses nuclear reactors to generate power, allowing it to operate underwater for extended periods without surfacing.
Oil and gas are fossil fuels used primarily for energy production. Oil is a liquid hydrocarbon, while gas is primarily composed of methane. Both are critical to global energy markets.
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