The USS Michigan, a US tactical nuclear submarine, makes a port name in Busan, South Korea, in 2023. (Yonhap)
Whereas Korea has touted the US’ consent for its growth of nuclear-powered submarines as a serious win of their current summit, not everyone seems to be inclined to agree.
Kim Jong-dae, a navy knowledgeable and former lawmaker with the Justice Get together, mentioned on Friday that “Korea has gained face, however misplaced cash, time and diplomatic autonomy.”
Kim decried what he regards as “the self-importance of a nation drunk on the delusion of turning into a world energy.”
“True autonomy will not be gaining possession of nuclear submarines, however securing technological sovereignty and independence in strategic judgment,” Kim wrote Friday in a put up on his Fb web page.
“The Protection Innovation 4.0 initiative that’s being pursued by President Lee Jae Myung seeks to assemble a ‘kill net’ consisting of synthetic intelligence, unmanned programs and information integration [as a strategy of disrupting and destroying the enemy’s nuclear weapons and missile systems],” Kim mentioned.
“That suggests a distributed pressure construction during which many small however sensible autonomous programs — versus a small variety of costly belongings — are linked in a single community,” the navy knowledgeable defined.
“Even the US navy is parting methods with its emphasis on huge plane carriers by the idea of ‘distributed lethality.’ So why are we transferring backward towards the hulking platforms of the previous?” Kim requested.
“A single nuclear-powered submarine would value round 2 trillion received simply to construct, in addition to 2.3 billion received in day by day working prices. With that a lot cash, we may purchase a whole bunch of unmanned underwater autos that would kind a tactical intelligence community able to monitoring the waters off our east and west coasts and responding in actual time,” he asserted.
“The sensible risk to South Korea lies not within the deep sea however in coastal waters. To counter the specter of North Korea’s small submarines, launch platforms for submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and mine warfare, what we’d like are usually not enormous nuclear-powered submarines, however nimble unmanned programs,” Kim mentioned.
“Warfare within the twenty first century is a race towards time and a battle between networks. The seas can not be dominated by a single metal behemoth. Somewhat, they’re managed by networks of distributed sensors, AI and autonomous programs,” he added.
“We should resist the temptation of pretending to be an amazing energy. Nuclear submarine applications find yourself being a ‘functionality lure’ in all areas — fiscal, political and industrial. Two trillion received of funding is barely sufficient to function a single nuclear submarine, and even that requires amending bilateral agreements and years of building,” Kim mentioned.
“Buying nuclear submarines wouldn’t elevate our strategic standing. If something, it might provoke China and North Korea, kicking the arms race in Northeast Asia into overdrive. North Korea has already promised to develop nuclear submarines, and China would instantly elevate its alert degree,” he warned.
“The operational atmosphere in Korea is essentially totally different from the blue-water navies that the US and the UK deploy in distant waters. Our navy operates within the shallow and sonically cluttered waters off our western and japanese coasts. In that atmosphere, a 100-meter-long nuclear-powered submarine finally ends up being inefficient and vulnerable to detection, an instance of extreme pressure. And the massive value can be disproportionate to the precise risk,” Kim mentioned.
Kim additionally famous that US President Donald Trump had mentioned Korean nuclear submarines would must be constructed at US shipyards. “We must rely upon the US’ extremely enriched uranium, and our shipbuilding expertise and upkeep and repairs would seemingly be managed by the US shipbuilding trade. That presents a threat of Korea’s sovereign protection trade devolving right into a system of subcontractors for US’ industrial coverage,” he mentioned.
“The second we beg for nuclear gasoline to assist purchase nuclear submarines, we’re willingly undermining the inspiration of our impartial protection coverage. Self-reliance in nationwide protection derives not from the gasoline rods of a nuclear-powered submarine, however from technological and strategic autonomy,” Kim confused.
By Ha Eo-young, employees reporter
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