Spotlight: Calls in S.Korea for nuke-powered submarine to face U.S. opposition

Calls are rising in South Korea to deploy a nuclear-powered submarine in response to an advance in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s technology of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), but it would face oppositions from the United States as it can lead to nuclear armament in the region.

Rep. Chung Jin-suk, floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, said on Monday that the DPRK's SLBM became a serious threat to security in South Korea and Northeast Asia, asking military authorities to actively review special countermeasures such as the nuclear-powered submarine deployment.

Former Saenuri floor leader Won Yoo-chul appeared in a radio program saying that a nuclear-propelled submarine should be adopted to contain possible SLBM provocations from the DPRK.

He is leading a group of 23 Saenuri lawmakers who issued a statement on Sunday to call for the nuclear submarine deployment.

Such calls came after the DPRK test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine off its east coast on Aug. 24. Seoul's military said the missile flew about 500 km toward Japan, surpassing the flight distance of 300 km which South Korean defense ministry regards as a success.

President Park Geun-hye instructed her senior secretaries on Monday to come up with realistic countermeasures against the DPRK's advancing nuclear and missile capabilities, boosting speculation on Seoul's push for a nuclear submarine.

Seoul's defense ministry spokesman Moon Sang-kyun told a press briefing that nothing has been decided yet upon the nuclear-powered submarine, but Defense Minister Han Min-koo told a parliamentary defense committee that the ministry will review the deployment in consideration of growing demands. However, Han added that nothing has been determined yet.

Possible push by Seoul for a nuclear-powered submarine is expected to face oppositions from its closest ally, the United States, as the U.S.-South Korea nuclear power pact, signed in 1973, prohibits Seoul from reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.

A nuclear submarine, powered by a nuclear reactor, is known to need a uranium enriched 20-90 percent as fuel. The enrichment can easily lead to a nuclear development as weapons-grade uranium requires at least 95-percent enrichment.

Seoul has claimed the development of reprocessing technology to recycle spent fuel is for peaceful purpose, while Washington has strongly opposed the development.

Allowing Seoul to enrich uranium can cause Japan to push for nuclear armament amid growing worries about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is seeking to amend the pacifist constitution and make Japan a war-waging country.

Such situation would escalate the already heightened tensions in the region following Seoul and Washington's decision in early July to deploy one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korean soil by the end of next year.

The deployment decision drew strong objections from China and Russia as the air defense system's X-band radar can peer deep into Chinese and Russian territories, breaking a strategic balance in the region and damaging security interests of Beijing and Moscow.

Seoul's push for a nuclear submarine also means a reversal of President Park Geun-hye's efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. The Park administration persuaded the international community to strengthen sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang under the banner of the denuclearized peninsula.

South Korea had allegedly pursued the development of three 4,000-ton nuclear submarines in 2003 under the Roh Moo-hyun government as part of efforts to achieve a self-reliant defense capability and reduce a military dependence on the United States.

Conservative lawmakers claim that it is almost impossible to detect and track a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile from a DPRK submarine moving secretly deep under the waters.

They say only a nuclear-powered submarine, which has a longer submerging time and a faster moving speed than conventional diesel-powered ones, can closely and persistently trace a DPRK submarine carrying nuclear missiles.

A nuclear-propelled submarine is known to move at an average speed of 20-25 knots an hour, faster than the diesel-electric submarine's speed of 6-7 knots per hour.

Nuclear submarines can remain submerged for long, theoretically forever with sufficient food and supplies, as nuclear propulsion frees them from surfacing for air. Diesel-powered submarines need air and refueling, limiting its operational capability. Enditem