North Korea announced on Friday that it had built a “tactical nuclear attack submarine” as part of its efforts to boost its naval strength, state news agency KCNA reported.
The new submarine was unveiled Wednesday at a ceremony chaired by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who said the craft is part of the Navy’s “progression of nuclear weapons in the future.” “, according to KCNA.
Images broadcast by state media show Mr. Kim, dressed in a light suit and matching hat, speaking to sailors in white uniforms next to the submarine, whose bow is decorated with the North Korean flag .
The launch of submarine number 841, dubbed Hero Kim Kun Ok, marks “a new chapter in the strengthening of the DPRK’s naval forces”, according to the state agency, which refers to the abbreviation of the official name of the DPRK. North Korea.
The North Korean leader declared that the submarine “will accomplish its combat mission” and will be “one of the main submarine offensive assets of the national naval forces”, according to the same source.
North Korea will convert its existing submarines into nuclear-armed combat vessels, he said.
During the ceremony with confetti and balloons, the North Korean number one spoke of the “strategic and tactical plan aimed at continually strengthening the modernity of the submarine and surface forces and the progression of the nuclear armament of the Navy in the future,” according to KCNA.
Surrounded by soldiers in immaculate uniforms sporting a profusion of medals, Kim is hilarious, wearing the kepi visibly borrowed from a Navy officer squatting in front of him, applauding the launch of the new submarine, according to a photo from KCNA.
He inspected the submarine as it prepared to conduct a test trip on Thursday.
“Arming the Navy with nuclear weapons becomes an urgent task,” he said, according to KCNA.
The reclusive country has increased its weapons tests this year.
In August, the country failed in its second attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit, which ended in failure.
In response to these tests, Seoul and Washington have strengthened their defense cooperation, holding joint military exercises.
According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a US-based think tank, North Korea has between 64 and 86 submarines, one of the largest submarine fleets in the world.
However, experts doubt they are all operational given the age of the vessels, according to NTI.
In 2019, state media showed Kim Jong Un inspecting a submarine that had never been reported before.
“It’s the same submarine – although extensively modified –,” said Joseph Dempsey, a researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, on X.
“Although North Korea has added a missile compartment and externally mimicked more contemporary design features… (the submarine) at its core is an obsolete diesel-electric-powered Romeo class, originally designed in the 1950s,” he said.
“It will have fundamental limitations and vulnerabilities.”
Ankit Panda, a US-based analyst, added that the new submarine’s capabilities “will not be revolutionary, but will increase the complexity of the nuclear threat posed by North Korea.”
South Korea condemned the submarine launch.
Kim In-ae, deputy spokesman for South Korea’s unification ministry, said Pyongyang “wasting its meager resources on futile weapon development while neglecting the hardships of its people”.
“Pyongyang must understand that its weapons programs and threats only endanger its security in the face of the overwhelming response from the strengthened joint posture of South Korea, the United States and Japan,” he said. he adds.
08/09/2023 17:29:42 – Seoul (AFP) © 2023 AFP
