Hegseth Vows US Support for South Korea's Nuclear Submarine Ambitions

Hegseth made the remarks at a press conference following annual security talks with Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back after President Lee Jae Myung asked Trump last week to allow Seoul to secure fuel for nuclear-powered submarines during their summit.

Trump announced the following day that he has granted approval for South Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine rather than what he called "old-fashioned" and "far less nimble" diesel-powered submarines, adding the submarine will be built at the US shipyard owned by South Korea's Hanhwa Ocean.

"We are going to work closely with the Department of State, the Department of Energy to fulfill President Trump's commitment in a deliberate manner," Hegseth told reporters, Yonhap News Agency reported.

"The president wants our allies to be strong. He wants our allies to have the best capabilities," Hegseth said. "Because Korea has been a model ally, he's open to opportunities like that to ensure they have the best capabilities in their own defence and alongside us as allies."

The US defence chief did not elaborate on the details of the approval but noted that South Korea has an "incredible" shipbuilding industry.

"We look forward to partnering with a lot more, whether it's surface warfare or submarines ... so there's going to be a great deal to be made, and I think it'll be mutually beneficial to both countries."

When asked about the possibility of the US Forces Korea being deployed in the event of a contingency in the Taiwan Strait, Hegseth mentioned "flexibility for regional contingencies is something we would take a look at" while stressing the command's commitment to deterrence against North Korean threats.

"We are focused on standing by our allies here in ensuring the threat of the DPRK is not a threat to the Republic of Korea and certainly continue to extend nuclear deterrence as we have before," he said, referring to North Korea by the acronym of its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Against such a backdrop, Hegseth said his visit to the Joint Security Area within the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas with Seoul's defence chief on Monday demonstrates the "core" of the alliance.

Hegseth and Ahn held their annual security talks, called the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) on Tuesday, which marked their first SCM meeting since they both took office earlier this year.

In his opening remarks, the Pentagon chief said the decades long alliance between the two nations is "stronger than ever" and called for increasing defence cooperation.

This year's SCM took place amid pending issues over how the two countries should modernise their alliance.

A joint communique encompassing the details of their discussions has yet to be released.

- IANS