by Stefan Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
PYONGYANG (Worthy News) – North Korea has unveiled its first nuclear-powered submarine under construction and fired several ballistic missiles into the sea since Monday in a warning to South Korean and U.S. troops in the area.
In comments monitored by Worthy News early Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile firings, North Korea’s fifth missile launch event this year, were detected from the North’s southwestern Hwanghae province.
It called the weapons close-range but didn’t say how far they flew. The military said South Korea bolstered its surveillance posture and is closely coordinating with the United States.
Ahead of the missile launch, North Korea’s tightly controlled state media released photos showing “a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine” and reported that leader Kim Jong Un visited major shipyards where warships are built.
The Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, didn’t provide details on the submarine but said Kim was briefed on its construction.
Experts say the weapons system can pose a significant security threat to South Korea and the U.S.
Moon Keun-sik, a South Korean submarine expert who teaches at Seoul’s Hanyang University, said the vessel appears to be a 6,000-ton-class or 7,000-ton-class one that can carry about 10 missiles. He stressed in published remarks that the term “strategic guided missiles” meant it would carry nuclear-capable weapons.
THREATENING US
“It would be absolutely threatening to us and the U.S.,” Moon warned.
A nuclear-powered submarine was reportedly on Kim’s shopping list to cope with what he called escalating “U.S.-led military threats.” Worthy News learned that he also wants solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, spy satellites, and multi-warhead missiles.
North Korea obtaining a greater ability to fire missiles from underwater is seen as a worrying development because it’s difficult for its rivals to detect such launches in advance.
In recent days, North Korea has increased its fiery rhetoric and military threats against the U.S. and South Korea ahead of their upcoming annual military drills, which began Monday
Yet questions have surfaced as to how North Korea, a heavily sanctioned and impoverished country, could get resources and technology to build nuclear-powered submarines.
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, North Korea is believed to supply conventional weapons and troops to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine. Some 1 million people are believed to have been killed and injured in that three-year armed conflict.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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