North Korea released photos of the construction of a nuclear submarine this Thursday, 25th, with photos from state media showing a practically completed hull. Meanwhile, leader Kim Jong-Un condemned rival South Korea’s attempt to acquire the technology.
North Korea’s official news agency, Korean Central News Agencyreported that Kim visited a shipyard to inspect the construction of what the Asian country describes as an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine, which the leader called a crucial step in the modernization and nuclear armament of North Korea’s navy.
The nation led by Kim Jong-Un has indicated that it plans to arm the submarine with nuclear weapons, calling it a “strategic guided missile submarine” or “strategic nuclear attack submarine.”
Continues after advertising
During the visit, Kim described South Korea’s efforts to acquire its own nuclear submarine as an “offensive act” that seriously violates the North’s maritime security and sovereignty. Seoul’s moves in this direction have been supported by United States President Donald Trump,
Kim said the South Korean plan further reinforces the need to advance and nuclear-arm North Korea’s navy, and asserted that the completion of its nuclear-powered submarine would be a “historic” shift in strengthening its nuclear deterrent against what he called enemy threats.
The agency did not specify when Kim visited the shipyard, but released photos showing him inspecting a huge burgundy-colored vessel coated in what appears to be anti-corrosion paint. The equipment is under construction inside an assembly hall, where senior officials and his daughter also appear.
It was the first time North Korean state media had released images of the submarine since March, when it showed mainly the lower sections of the vessel.
It was unclear how close North Korea is to completing the project. But because submarines are typically built from the inside out, the release of what appears to be a nearly completed hull suggests that many essential components, including the engine and possibly the reactor, are already in place, said Moon Keun-sik, a submarine expert at Hanyang University in Seoul.
“Showing the entire vessel now seems to indicate that most of the equipment has already been installed and that it is almost ready to be launched,” said Moon, a former submarine officer in the South Korean Navy, who believes the North Korean submarine could be tested at sea within a few months.
Continues after advertising
Nuclear submarine is the next big military objective
A nuclear-powered submarine was one of the items on the long list of sophisticated weapons that Kim announced during an important political conference in 2021, called by him to discuss threats coming from the United States. Other weapons were solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, spy satellites, and missiles with multiple warheads.
North Korea has carried out a series of tests to develop some of these systems and recently unveiled a new naval destroyer, which Kim hailed as a major step toward expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of the country’s nuclear forces.
Continues after advertising
If North Korea obtains a submarine capable of operating stealthily for long periods and launching missiles underwater, it would be a worrying development for its neighbors as such launches would be difficult to detect in advance. But there are questions about whether heavily impoverished and sanctioned North Korea could obtain the resources and technology to build nuclear-powered submarines.
Some experts say North Korea’s recent alignment with Russia — including sending thousands of troops and military equipment to support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine — may have helped the country receive crucial technologies in return.
While some analysts suspect that North Korea may have sought a reactor from Russia, possibly from a retired Russian submarine, Moon said it is more likely that North Korea designed its own reactor, possibly receiving technological assistance from Russia.
Continues after advertising
South Korea seeks its own nuclear submarine
During a summit with Trump in November, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for White House support for South Korea’s efforts to acquire nuclear submarines, while reaffirming a commitment to increasing defense spending to ease the burden on the United States.
Trump later said the United States was open to sharing classified technology to allow South Korea to build a nuclear submarine, but it was unclear where and when the vessel would be built and how Seoul would obtain the nuclear fuel and reactor technology.
Continues after advertising
In another report, the KCNA said that Kim supervised on Wednesday, the 24th, the tests of new anti-aircraft missiles fired into the sea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff later said it detected the North’s launch of several missiles from an eastern coastal city and that South Korean and American intelligence agencies were evaluating the details of the weapons.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened in recent years as Kim has accelerated his military nuclear program and deepened his alliance with Moscow in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
His government has repeatedly rejected calls from Washington and Seoul to resume negotiations to end nuclear and missile programs, which collapsed in 2019 after a summit with Trump in the Republican’s first term.
