North Korea unveiled for the first time a nuclear-powered submarine under construction, a weapons system that can pose a major security threat to South Korea and the US. <\/p>\n
State media on Saturday released photos showing what it called \u201ca nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine,\u201d as it reported leader Kim Jong Un\u2019s visits to major shipyards where warships are built. <\/p>\n
The Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, didn\u2019t provide details on the submarine, but said Kim was briefed on its construction. <\/p>\n
The naval vessel appears to be a 6,000-ton-class or 7,000-ton-class one which can carry about 10 missiles, said Moon Keun-sik, a South Korean submarine expert who teaches at Seoul\u2019s Hanyang University. He said the use of the term \u201cthe strategic guided missiles\u201d meant it would carry nuclear-capable weapons. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be absolutely threatening to us and the US,\u201d Moon said. <\/p>\n
A nuclear-powered submarine was among a long wishlist 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. <\/p>\n
North Korea obtaining a greater ability to fire missiles from underwater is a worrying development because it\u2019s difficult for its rivals to detect such launches in advance. <\/p>\n
Questions about how North Korea, a heavily sanctioned and impoverished country, could get resources and technology to build nuclear-powered submarines have surfaced. <\/p>\n
Moon, the submarine expert, said North Korea may 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\u2019s war efforts against Ukraine. <\/p>\n
He also said North Korea could launch the submarine in one or two years to test its capability before its actual deployment. <\/p>\n
North Korea has an estimated 70-90 diesel-powered submarines in one of the world\u2019s largest fleets. However, they are mostly aging ones capable of launching only torpedoes and mines, not missiles. <\/p>\n
In 2023, North Korea said it had launched what it called its first \u201ctactical nuclear attack submarine,\u201d but foreign experts doubted the North\u2019s announcement and speculated it was likely a diesel-powered submarine disclosed in 2019. Moon said there has been no confirmation that it has been deployed. <\/p>\n
North Korea has conducted a slew of underwater-launched ballistic missile tests since 2016, but all launches were made from the same 2,000-ton-class submarine which has a single launch tube. <\/p>\n
Many experts call it a test platform, rather than an operational submarine in active service. <\/p>\n
In recent days, North Korea has been dialing up its fiery rhetoric against the US and South Korea ahead of their upcoming annual military drills set to start Monday. <\/p>\n
During his visits to the shipyards, Kim said North Korea aims to modernize water-surface and underwater warships simultaneously. <\/p>\n
He stressed the need to make \u201cthe incomparably overwhelming warships fulfill their mission\u201d to contain \u201cthe inveterate gunboat diplomacy of the hostile forces,\u201d KCNA reported Saturday. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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