SEOUL: Two weeks after United States President Donald Trump and South Korea’s Lee Jae Myung met and announced they had resolved months of negotiations over tariffs and security issues, the two sides have yet to release any agreement on paper.
South Korean officials say the delay appears to centre on discussions over their request for Washington’s blessing to build a nuclear-powered submarine, which Lee raised publicly when he met Trump on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific forum in South Korea last month.
After that meeting, officials said they would shortly release a factsheet outlining an agreement on security issues, including the submarine, as well as a trade deal first announced at the first Trump-Lee summit in July, under which South Korea would shovel hundreds of billions of dollars into US projects in exchange for lower tariffs.
“Since the matter of building a nuclear-powered submarine has been raised, each of the US departments seems to need some time to adjust their opinions,” South Korean Defence Minister Ahn said in an interview with local broadcaster KBS on Sunday (Nov 9).
Washington has approved Seoul’s use of nuclear fuel for the submarine but the factsheet is taking longer to finalise because relevant US departments are still giving feedback, and there continue to be adjustments on the wording, a senior South Korean presidential official said on Friday.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
