After China & India, South Korea Set to Become Third Asian — and Seventh Global — Nuclear Submarine Operator

New Delhi ( The Indian View team) : The Republic of Korea (South Korea) Ministry of National Defense (MND) released the “Basic Plan for the Development of the Republic of Korea Nuclear-Powered Submarine” this week. The project has been officially named Jangbogo N, with the “N” referring to “next-generation” and “nuclear-powered,” according to local reports.

If successful, South Korea would become only the third Asian country to operate nuclear-powered submarines, after China and India, and only the seventh worldwide.

The development of a nuclear submarine that can remain submerged for months without refueling ushers in a new era of South Korean power projection in the hotly contested Indo-Pacific region. The Ministry of National Defense has announced that the first nuclear-powered submarine will be built by the mid-2030s.

This is the first official road map outlining how Korea will systemically develop and acquire a nuclear-powered submarine capability,” South Korean Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back stated while presenting the nuke-sub development plan during the inaugural meeting of the Future Defense Strategy Committee, held at the submarine command in Jinhae, Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.

The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) already operates a large number of diesel-electric submarines, including the KSS-I, KSS-II, and KSS-III, the latter of which is an indigenous design that has recently been promoted for export.