Internationalism No. 82, December 2025 Page 14 According to the Chosun Ilbo , South Korea’s leading national-conservative newspaper, the agreements between Donald Trump and Lee Jae-myung—negotiated on the sidelines of the late-October Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Busan—represent Seoul’s first step towards becoming a fully autonomous nuclear State , capable of building and operating nuclear reactors and producing nuclear fuel. It was a historically significant event. The agreement is part of a broader one concerning the commitment by Seoul to invest $350 billion in the US, including $150 billion in the shipbuilding sector. This commitment was matched by Trump’s green light for South Korea’s ambition to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, or SSNs. National-progressive ambitions for national autonomy As noted by the newspaper Hankyoreh , linked to the Democratic Party, which currently holds the presidency and a parl...