26 Jan 2004 03:26
South Korea may deploy nuclear-powered subs - newspaper
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea is developing a plan to deploy several nuclear-powered submarines from 2012 to counter threats from "powerful neighbours", the country's largest newspaper reported on Monday.
The conservative Chosun Ilbo daily quoted unnamed senior government officials as saying the South Korean navy assembled a team of 30 experts last year to prepare designs for 4,000-tonne class submarines by 2006.
Construction would begin in 2007 with the aim of deploying a few submarines every several years from 2012, it said.
The South Korean Defence Ministry said in a statement the military was developing 1,800-tonne class submarines and conducting research into next-generation vessels.
"However, there has been no decision made on the method of developing the next generation of submarines," the statement said.
The Chosun Ilbo quoted an official as saying the plan was part of "independent defence efforts to preserve sovereign independence amid security threats from powerful neighbours after reunification" with North Korea.
The newspaper said the submarines would counter threats from "Japan, China and other surrounding countries".
The report did not mention the South's heavily-armed communist neighbour, North Korea, by name.
South and North Korea have been divided into two rival states since 1948 and in a formal state of war since the 1950-53 Korean conflict.
South Korea aspires to reunification with the North but does not have a fixed timetable. It generally considers unification to be decades rather than years away. The Chosun Ilbo report was intriguing because it implied South Korean officials believe it could happen sooner
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