South Korean Navy

[Musashi_kenshin]

Question is, are they are joining AUKUS? Trump's statement on US built subs seems to point to this.

Currently no. AUKUS is a trilateral agreement that involves sharing every country's technology. Trump can't by virtue of a handshake bring South Korea in. He can seek to get an agreement from the UK and Australia, but that hasn't happened yet. I don't think that South Korea brings anything to the table for the UK or Australia if the submarines are being built in the US with US technology, so they'd have no reason to agree.

AUKUS also required a lot of legislation to authorise the release of technology. Even without UK and Australian involvemennt, I don't think even Trump can sign an executive order to do all that, so it will take a while to get the necessary congressional approval. South Korea will also need to design the largest submarine it has ever built by some degree.

Realistically this is the start of a very long process. The first boat will probably not be in service until the late 2040s, especially given that US shipyards are very busy.

 

[John Fedup]

Yes, any nuclear boats for SKorea will be a long way off due to needed Congressional approval and actual design requirements. Could be an additional reason to buy into KSS-II instead of the 212CD.