NEWS AND ANALYSIS:
The Energy Department has placed South Korea on its list of “sensitive” countries over growing support in the country for developing nuclear weapons instead of relying on U.S. nuclear deterrence.
The department made the designation in January, adding Seoul to its “Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List,” known as the SCL, in the final days of the Biden administration, an Energy spokeswoman told Inside the Ring.
The designation has been maintained since the Trump administration came into office over concerns that South Korea could be secretly building strategic weapons.
The SCL list is used as a warning system by the department that closely monitors foreign nuclear arms development.
The Energy website states that those listed are designated for nuclear non-proliferation, terrorism support or other national security concerns.
A person with knowledge of the decision said the Biden administration added South Korea to the list based on statements by South Korean officials regarding nuclear weapons, and a 2023 public opinion poll that found 71% of South Koreans favor building a nuclear deterrent.
The person said, “I don’t believe there are any signs yet of a program being launched.”
Another source, however, said there are serious concerns that South Korea is secretly working on nuclear arms.
The Energy spokeswoman did not respond when asked why South Korea was added to the list. She also did not comment when asked if it was over concerns about Seoul building nuclear weapons.
“The Department of Energy maintains an extensive Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List,” the spokeswoman, who asked that she not be identified, said in a statement.
In her comments, however, she sought to play down the issue.
“Inclusion does not necessarily indicate an adversarial relationship with the United States; many designated countries are those we regularly cooperate with on a variety of energy, science, technology, counterterrorism, and nonproliferation issues,” she said.
The designation was first reported by Reuters. The spokeswoman said there had been no new developments since the listing was reported several weeks ago.
South Korea is a key U.S. ally in the Asia Pacific region with an estimated 28,000 U.S. troops deployed there.
“The prior administration added the Republic of Korea (ROK) to the lowest category (Other Designated Country) of the SCL in early January 2025,” the spokeswoman said.
“Currently there are no new restrictions on bilateral science and technology cooperation with the ROK. The Energy Department looks forward to collaborating with the ROK to advance our mutual interests.”
The U.S. withdrew all nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula in 1991 and a year later, South and North Korea signed a joint declaration pledging not to produce or use nuclear weapons.
The U.S. military provides what it calls extended deterrence for South Korea, mainly through deployments of ballistic missile submarines.
North Korea went on to become a new nuclear weapons power despite the 1991 agreement.
An intelligence report by a group of United Nations members, including the U.S., stated that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared in 2022 that his forces would “exponentially increase” production of nuclear warheads.
North Korea also has conducted nuclear-related military exercises since 2022, and in March 2023, displayed a purported tactical nuclear warhead.
Pyongyang also has developed short- and long-range ballistic and cruise nuclear missiles, according to the report by the 11-nation Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team.
Ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun both raised the prospect that Seoul would be forced to pursue nuclear weapons over concerns about Pyongyang’s nuclear arms and a lack of confidence in U.S. nuclear security guarantees.
In February, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said nuclear weapons were not “off the table,” adding that it was too early to discuss any plans. A nuclear deterrent would be a “principled response” to regional threats,” Mr. Cho told a parliamentary hearing.
It is not clear how South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae-myung, views the need for a South Korean nuclear deterrent.
Mr. Lee, a career-long leftist who rebranded himself as a centrist to win Tuesday’s presidential election, is expected to seek closer relations with both China and North Korea and to rekindle long-standing South Korean antipathy toward Japan, another key U.S. ally.
Adm. Sam Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, testified to the Senate in April that both South Korea and Japan would consider building nuclear weapons if they perceived the U.S. was pulling back support in the region.
Air Force chief reveals new details on future F-47 jet
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin teased several new characteristics of the forthcoming F-47 advanced fighter jet in a recent social media post.
Gen. Allvin said in a post on X that the Air Force plans to build more than 185 of the advanced stealth jets he described as the next-generation air dominance fighter.
“Our @usairforce will continue to be the world’s best example of speed, agility, and lethality,” the four-star general said. “Modernization means fielding a collection of assets that provide unique dilemmas for adversaries — matching capabilities to threats — while keeping us on the right side of the cost curve.”
According to the post, the F-47 will be operational from 2025 to 2029 and have a combat radius of more than 1,000 nautical miles.
It will also be supersonic, with top speeds of more than Mach 2 or twice the speed of sound.
The F-47 will also have greater radar-evading stealth characteristics than the jet it will replace, the F-22, first flown in 1997.
The Air Force chart described the F-22 as having “Stealth +” capability, while the F-47 will boast of having “Stealth ++” — though the enhanced capability was not further defined.
The F-22 was designed for use in a conflict against China and was canceled after 187 jets were built in favor of the multi-service F-35.
The 590 nautical mile range F-22 employs a “super cruise” system that allows it to fly long distances, fire long-range missiles and have enough fuel to return to base.
The F-47, which will replace the F-22 has 40% more range and greater capability to penetrate advanced air defense networks.
Details on the new jet were listed on a chart that also showed 4th generation F-15E, F-15X and F-16 jets along with 5th generation F-35s and the F-22.
Also listed on Gen. Allvin’s chart of future air power were two unmanned fighter aircraft, the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A. The drones are envisioned to operate alongside piloted aircraft as a more affordable way to increase firepower.
President Trump announced in March that Boeing will build the new F-47, calling it “the world’s first sixth-generation fighter jet.”
“Nothing in the world comes even close to it,” Mr. Trump said, describing it as the most advanced, capable and lethal combat aircraft platform ever built.
China struggling with military reforms needed in time for Taiwan action
The People’s Liberation Army has failed to implement key military reforms needed to meet the goal of having enough firepower to take Taiwan by force in 2027, according to an Air Force think tank report.
The report quotes People’s Liberation Army Gen. Zhang Youxia, the most powerful military officer in China, as voicing concerns that the military has not moved fast enough to be ready for an invasion or blockade of Taiwan, as ordered by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Details of the shortcomings were disclosed by Gen. Zhang in a state-media essay last year. The article revealed weaknesses in military leadership, problems with wartime military-civilian coordination, and an inability to conduct both joint operations and information warfare operations needed for a major joint military campaign.
“After nine years of corruption purges, modernization initiatives, and substantial reforms, Xi and China’s military leaders remain concerned,” the report by the China Aerospace Studies Institute states.
“Significant portions of the People’s Liberation Army and cross-military and local (civilian) efforts are not moving fast enough, or in the right direction.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a speech Saturday that a conflict with China over Taiwan is a real danger that is “imminent” and would result in devastating consequences.
The warnings by Gen. Zhang are significant since he is vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Military Commission, the party organ that controls China’s three-million-troop army.
The findings of the report coincide with U.S. intelligence assessments of China’s large-scale military buildup.
A U.S. defense official told The Washington Times several months ago: “While we are respectful of the [military] gains that they’re making, we see a lot of holes still in their ability to execute things.
“If we take them at their word that the timeline is 2027 or after to have the capabilities in place [for a Taiwan military assault], they still got some time to work, and they will need it,” the official said.
According to the report, the PLA is experiencing systemic obstructions for military organization and materiel systems, a lack of focus on jointness, slow progress in improving training and readiness, ineffective military governance, inefficient resource management, slow integration of new weapons, and internal corruption.
Corruption remains endemic in the PLA, with a new wave of arrests and firings beginning in 2023.
Between July and December 2023, at least 15 high-ranking military officers and defense industry executives were removed from their posts. Several were linked to corruption involving building ground-based nuclear and conventional missiles.
Purges took place in 2023 and 2024 and are continuing, including the November 2024 ouster of key ideological CMC leader Adm. Miao Hua.
The report, made public on Monday, failed to mention that a second CMC vice chairman, Gen. He Weidong, disappeared from public view earlier this year and is believed to have been a victim of ongoing political purges by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.