Key facts
- DAPA said the Jang Bogo N project will formally be launched in 2027.
- DAPA plans to select the manufacturer through open bidding in the first half of 2027 and sign a contract by the end of that year.
- Seoul has secured U.S. consent to build submarines using high-assay, low-enriched uranium enriched to below 20 percent, DAPA said.
- DAPA said the total budget has not been finalized and remains under deliberation.
- Media reports estimate the program at 28.9 trillion won ($21.3 billion) for at least three 8,000-ton submarines.
- The committee also approved the KTSSM-I Block-II missile plan, with a range 30 percent greater than Block-I, for 2028 to 2035.
A review committee of South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration approved the basic plan for the country's nuclear-powered submarine program at a regular meeting on November 6, 2026, the agency said in a release. The project, called Jang Bogo N, will formally be launched in 2027.
Seoul unveiled the project in May, aiming to develop and build nuclear-propelled, conventionally armed attack submarines domestically. The first vessel is to be launched in the mid-2030s and fielded after the late 2030s. DAPA said the project was exempted from the preliminary feasibility study usually required for arms acquisitions, which allows the government to accelerate construction; under procurement rules the defense minister or DAPA chief can request such an exemption for highly classified projects. A DAPA official told reporters in a background briefing that the exemption was granted in August.
DAPA plans to select the submarine manufacturer through open bidding in the first half of 2027 and sign a formal contract by the end of that year. The government plans to procure small modular reactors directly for the vessel's propulsion. Seoul has secured U.S. consent to build submarines powered by high-assay, low-enriched uranium enriched to below 20 percent.
DAPA said the project is expected to strengthen deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and to expand the underwater capabilities of the "Kill Chain" preemptive strike system, one pillar of the country's three-pronged defense architecture. The agency said the total budget has not been finalized because the matter is still under deliberation. Media reports suggest Seoul seeks at least three 8,000-ton submarines, with the program estimated at 28.9 trillion won ($21.3 billion).
The committee also approved a plan for the KTSSM-I Block-II missile, intended to improve counter-artillery capabilities with a range 30 percent greater than the earlier Block-I version, called Ure. The program is scheduled to run from 2028 to 2035 at an estimated cost of about 537 billion won. The committee passed a revised plan to produce the tactical multiband and multirole radio system at scale, approved replacing an aging presidential helicopter with the S-92A Plus made by Lockheed Martin, and backed programs to replace harbor patrol boats and upgrade an unmanned mine-clearing surface vehicle.