North Korea leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a newly built submarine and ordered officials to further bolster the country’s military capability, state media reported yesterday as Pyongyang is increasing its pressure on the US ahead of a possible resumption of nuclear diplomacy.
North Korea last week said that it might lift its 20-month suspension of nuclear and missile tests to protest expected military drills between the US and South Korea that it views as an invasion rehearsal.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim expressed “great satisfaction” with the submarine after learning about its operational and tactical data and weapon systems.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Kim “stressed the need to steadily and reliably increase the national defense capability by directing big efforts to the development of the naval weapons and equipment such as submarine,” KCNA reported.
KCNA did not say exactly when and where Kim’s inspection of the submarine occurred.
It said the submarine’s operational deployment “is near at hand.”
The construction of a new submarine suggests that North Korea has been increasing its military capability, despite nuclear diplomacy with the US that began early last year.
North Korea has repeatedly said that it is willing to abandon its nuclear program in return for political and economic benefits.
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It was not immediately known exactly what kind of a submarine North Korea has built.
However, its efforts to develop submarine-launched missile systems are a serious concern for rivals and neighbors, because missiles from submerged vessels are harder to detect in advance.
Before it entered talks with the US, North Korea claimed to have successfully test-fired ballistic missiles from submarines, though many outside analysts have said North Korea likely remains years away from having an operational system.
According to a South Korean defense report last year, North Korea has 70 submarines and submersibles.
The North’s disclosure of a new submarine came after Kim and US President Donald Trump late last month held their third summit in the Demilitarized Zone and agreed to resume nuclear negotiations.
The countries’ nuclear diplomacy remained stalled since the second Kim-Trump summit in Vietnam in February fell apart due to squabbling over US-led sanctions on North Korea.
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