In this undated photo provided on March 8, 2025, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, bottom right, visits a shipyard to construct warships at an undisclosed place in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
DAILY MAIL ONLINE | Published March 9, 2025
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – 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 U.S.
The state media agency on Saturday released photos showing what it called “a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine,” as it reported leader Kim Jong Un´s visits to major shipyards where warships are built.
The Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, didn’t provide details on the submarine, but said that Kim was briefed on its construction.
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´s Hanyang University. He said that the use of the term “the strategic guided missiles” meant it would carry nuclear-capable weapons.
“It would be absolutely threatening to us and the U.S.,” Moon said.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said that “we´re aware of these claims and do not have additional information to provide at this time.
“The U.S. is committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea,” Hughes 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 U.S.-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.
In this undated photo provided on March 8, 2025, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, visits a shipyard to construct warships at an undisclosed place in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: “KCNA” which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
North Korea obtaining a greater ability to fire missiles from underwater is a worrying development, because it´s 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, the submarine expert, said that 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´s war efforts against Ukraine.
He also said that North Korea could launch the submarine in one or two years to test its capability before its actual deployment.
North Korea has an estimated 70-90 diesel-powered submarines in one of the world´s largest fleets. However, they are mostly aging ones capable of launching only torpedoes and mines, not missiles.
In 2023, North Korea said that it had launched what it called its first ” tactical nuclear attack submarine,” but foreign experts doubted the North´s announcement and speculated that it was likely a diesel-powered submarine disclosed in 2019. Moon said that there has been no confirmation that it has been deployed.
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. Many experts call it a test platform, rather than an operational submarine in active service.
In recent days, North Korea has been dialing up its fiery rhetoric against the U.S. and South Korea before their upcoming annual military drills set to start on Monday.
During his visits to the shipyards, Kim said that North Korea aims to modernize water-surface and underwater warships simultaneously. He stressed the need to make “the incomparably overwhelming warships fulfill their mission” to contain “the inveterate gunboat diplomacy of the hostile forces,” KCNA reported Saturday.
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SOURCE: www.dailymail.co.uk
RELATED: North Korea Unveils Nuclear Missile Submarine for First Time
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024. Getty Images
NEWSWEEK | Published March 9, 2025
North Korea has produced a nuclear-powered submarine that may be able to carry up to 10 missiles, according to reports.
On Saturday, state media in the secretive country released images of leader Kim Jong Un next to a vessel it said could carry strategic guided missiles.
Newsweek has contacted the Pentagon for comment.
Why It Matters
Yonhap, a South Korean news agency, said this was the first time Pyongyang had publicly disclosed the construction of such a vessel. In 2021, Kim pledged to introduce a nuclear-power submarine in response to what he called escalating military threats from the U.S., and Washington will no doubt be concerned about the development.
What To Know
The North Korean leader has inspected a project to build a nuclear-powered submarine, warning that Pyongyang’s maritime defense capability will be “fully displayed in any necessary waters without limitation,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which did not disclose the date or location of Kim’s visit.
The outlet said he reviewed “a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine” under construction, and it published images of the leader and his officials next to it.
Yonhap reported that the term likely referred to a nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching ballistic missiles, commonly known as a ballistic missile submarine.
Moon Keun-sik, a South Korean submarine expert at Seoul’s Hanyang University, told the Associated Press that the vessel appeared to be a 6,000-ton-class or 7,000-ton-class submarine and that it could carry about 10 nuclear-capable missiles.
Given the heavy sanctions North Korea faces, the vessel may have been built with the assistance of Russia in exchange for supplying weapons and troops to support Russia’s war effort against Ukraine, Moon added.
KCNA gave no details about the vessel while describing how Kim “acquainted himself with the ongoing work for attaining the goal of building warships.”
North Korea has an estimated fleet of up to 90 diesel-powered submarines, although most of them are aging and can launch only torpedoes and mines, not missiles.
Pyongyang said in 2023 that it had launched its first “tactical nuclear attack submarine,” but foreign experts doubted the announcement and speculated that it was likely a diesel-powered submarine disclosed in 2019.
Since 2016, North Korea has conducted underwater-launched ballistic missile tests from the same 2,000-ton-class submarine, which has a single launch tube. Experts have described the vessel as a test platform rather than an operational submarine.
What People Are Saying
North Korean state news agency KCNA reported: “Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, visited major shipyards to give field guidance to warship building.”
What Happens Next
Moon said North Korea could launch the submarine within two years to test its capability before its deployment, posing a possible a security risk to the U.S.
The release of images of Kim next to the vessel coincide with Pyongyang’s fiery rhetoric against the U.S. and South Korea, which are holding annual military drills set to begin on Monday.
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SOURCE: www.newsweek.com
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