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US President Donald Trump and President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea raise their glasses for a toast during a banquet hosted by South Korea held at the Hilton Hotel in Gyeongju on Oct. 29, 2025. (Yonhap)

Delays have arisen in the process of drafting a document on the outcome of tariff and security negotiations concluded at a South Korea-US summit on Oct. 29.

While Seoul initially expressed confidence that a fact sheet reflecting the agreement outcome would emerge within “a couple of days,” nearly a week has gone by without any further updates. 

Government officials said that while the drafting of the necessary phrasing for a joint fact sheet announcement has been concluded, the announcement has been delayed pending final confirmations by the US.

As recently as last weekend, observers were predicting the most likely date for the joint fact sheet announcement would be on Nov. 4. This ended up being put off after a notification from Washington that an announcement would not be possible.

While the US stated that the matter required discussions among government offices, the perspective from Seoul is that differences have emerged in the US administration over issues relating to nuclear energy.

On Wednesday, Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back commented before a plenary session of the National Assembly National Defense Committee on the reason for the lack of a joint statement announcement following the 57th South Korea-US Security Consultative Meeting a day earlier.

“The fact sheet has not been completed yet,” he explained.

“It appears that there has been a bit of a delay because various matters such as the nuclear-powered submarine and South Korea-US atomic energy agreement issues require coordination among US government offices,” he added.

Along similar lines, Minister of Finance Koo Yun-cheol stressed, “The sheet for the economy-related areas is nearly complete, and I anticipate that the fact sheet will be jointly signed once the security-related sheet is finished.”

Koo also said he could “not say what [the timeline] would be because the security areas are currently under discussion.”

Seoul is viewing the delay in the fact sheet’s announcement as being related to newly included content concerning nuclear-powered submarines and the amendment of the two sides’ nuclear energy agreement.

A government source explained, “What we’ve heard from the US is that this is a matter involving various agencies and that it will take time to confirm all of their positions.”

“Our understanding is that this is a matter regarding the new inclusions about nuclear-powered submarines and the associated South Korea-US nuclear energy agreement,” they added.

Another official said the US was “throwing a last-minute fit over the negotiations concerning nuclear energy.”

According to accounts from government sources, the security fact sheet to be drafted after the summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump is set to include new terms concerning nuclear-powered submarines, which would necessitate some changes to the wording of the two sides’ agreement on the use of nuclear energy. 

While content regarding the nuclear energy pact was included in a fact sheet provisionally agreed upon by Seoul and Washington before their summit in August, it did not contain any reference to “amendment” at the time. Instead, that security fact sheet reportedly contained wording to the effect that the US recognized South Korea’s right to up to 20% uranium enrichment and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel for research purposes, contingent on US approval, along with an expression of commitment to expanding the two sides’ nuclear energy cooperation.

But Lee’s request on Oct. 29 for the US to supply the necessary fuel to build nuclear-powered submarines raised the need to either amend the existing agreement or establish a separate one.

The US has maintained a cautious position on the matter, as uranium enrichment and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel represent sensitive technologies that can be diverted into military uses.

For now, the South Korean government’s position is that it is working as much as possible toward the release of a fact sheet before the end of the week. 

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

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