Don’t Call it a Deal Just Yet: South Korea to Pursue Nuclear-powered Submarines

Don’t Call it a Deal Just Yet: South Korea to Pursue Nuclear-powered Submarines

November 20, 2025 · 16 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. approval for South Korea to develop nuclear-powered attack submarines and its implications for security in Northeast Asia.

Despite a factsheet stating that the U.S. has given approval for the ROK to build nuclear-powered attack submarines, there’s a tremendous amount of uncertainty as to what was actually agreed to. In this episode of The Diplomat’s Asia Geopolitics podcast Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) and Katie Putz (@LadyPutz) dig into the recent news that the U.S. had given South Korea the go-ahead to pursue the development of nuclear-powered attack submarines. What does that mean? And what does it mean for security in Northeast Asia? You can subscribe to The Diplomat’s Asia Geopolitics podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify ; and watch the episode on YouTube . If you like the podcast and have suggestions for content, please leave a review and rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Ideas or questions? You can contact the hosts Panda and Putz .

People in this episode

Hosts: Ankit Panda, Katie Putz

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Diplomat

Places: South Korea, U.S., Northeast Asia

More episodes of Asia Geopolitics

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Asia Geopolitics podcast page.