North Korea yesterday unveiled for the first time a nuclear-powered submarine under construction, a weapons system that could pose a major security threat to South Korea and the US.
State media released photographs showing what it called “a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine,” as it reported North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s visits to major shipyards where warships are built.
The Korean Central News Agency did not provide details on the naval vessel, but said Kim was briefed on its construction.
Photo: Korean Central News Agency / Korea News Service via AP
The submarine appears to be a 6,000-tonne or 7,000-tonne-class vessel, which can carry about 10 missiles, said Moon Keun-sik, a South Korean submarine expert who teaches at Seoul’s Hanyang University.
The use of the term “the strategic guided missiles” meant it would carry nuclear-capable weapons, he said.
“It would be absolutely threatening to us and the US,” Moon said.
A nuclear-powered submarine was among a long wish list of sophisticated weaponry that Kim vowed to introduce during a major political conference in 2021 to cope with what he called escalating US-led military threats. Other weapons were solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, spy satellites and multi-warhead missiles. North Korea has since performed a run of testing activities to acquire them.
North Korea obtaining a greater ability to fire missiles from underwater is a worrying development, because it is difficult for its rivals to detect such launches in advance.
Questions about how North Korea, a heavily sanctioned and impoverished country, could get resources and technology to build nuclear-powered submarines have surfaced.
Moon said North Korea might have received Russian technological assistance to build a nuclear reactor to be used in the submarine in return for supplying conventional weapons and troops to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine.
He also said North Korea could launch the submarine in one or two years to test its capability before its actual deployment.
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