U.S.–ROK Fact Sheet Green-Lights Seoul’s Nuclear-Powered Submarines in $350 Bn Deal

When the U.S. transferred Polaris missile technology to Britain in 1958, and again with the 2021 AUKUS nuclear-sub pact for Australia, it cracked open precedents meant to ring-fence naval nuclear propulsion; the 2025 extension to South Korea is the third fissure. It signals a deeper trend: Washington now trades its most sensitive technology for allied industrial investment and burden-sharing as China’s navy and North Korea’s arsenal expand. The decision accelerates an under-sea arms race already prompting Japanese debates on SSNs and spurring Beijing to counter-deploy. Over a 100-year arc this could normalise nuclear latency among middling powers, strain the NPT verification system built in 1970, and lock Northeast Asia into a high-technology "cold peace"—paralleling how the Dreadnought race of 1906 planted seeds for wider conflict even while deterring immediate war.