President Donald Trump said Thursday the United States will allow South Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine at a shipyard in Philadelphia, describing the step as part of a broader economic and security package with Seoul. According to a post on Truth Social, Trump also claimed South Korea agreed to major purchases of U.S. energy and significant investments in American industry.
In a separate post, Trump wrote that “South Korea will be building its Nuclear Powered Submarine in the Philadelphia Shipyards,” adding that U.S. shipbuilding is “making a big comeback,” as posted on Truth Social.
Key details—including the submarine’s class, propulsion fuel, cost, and timeline—were not provided. The president’s posts suggested a wider bargain that includes tariff reductions for South Korean goods and large-scale private-sector investment in the United States.
The announcement marks a potential shift for the alliance. Washington has historically guarded nuclear-submarine propulsion technology, even with close partners, and any sharing would raise complex legal, export-control, and nonproliferation questions. According to the Associated Press, Pentagon officials had not immediately commented on the president’s statement.
Philadelphia’s commercial yard has seen renewed interest after acquisition by South Korean industry, but it is not a Navy nuclear-submarine production site. Any move to build a nuclear-powered vessel there would require substantial new infrastructure, regulatory approvals, and a defined program of record.
Seoul has long signaled interest in nuclear-powered submarines to improve endurance and tracking of regional threats. Next steps will depend on formal U.S. government directives, congressional oversight, and alliance consultations, none of which were detailed in the president’s social-media posts.
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