North Korea has reportedly deployed its first nuclear attack submarine as part of a fleet patrolling the Sea of Japan, between the Korean peninsula and Japan, state media reported.
Reuters reported that the KCNA news agency said Kim Jong Un attended the launch ceremony for the submarine on Wednesday.
The North Korean leader said equipping the country’s navy with nuclear weapons was a very high priority and promised to send more nuclear-armed ships to the military branch.
“The launching ceremony of the submarine heralded the beginning of a new chapter to bolster the DPRK’s naval force,” KCNA said, using the initials of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The submarine is named after one of the country’s historical figures, hero Kim Kun OK, and Kim said it will act as “one of the main underwater offensive means of the naval force.”
Analysts saw signs in 2016 that at least one new submarine was being built, then in 2019, state media showed Kim inspecting a submarine supposedly built under his “special attention” for operations off the country’s east coast.
Photographs taken of a North Korean shipyard in August 2019 suggested the country could be building a submarine that could be capable of launching a nuclear missile.
The images showed boats and cranes that could be used to drag a missile into the sea for launch. Satellite photographs then also confirmed state media reports about a newly built submarine.
Reuters reported that the KCNA news agency said Kim Jong Un attended the submarine launching ceremony on Wednesday.via REUTERS
In March, North Korea fired two “strategic cruise missiles” from a submarine near Kyongpho Bay off the country’s east coast, and according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the exercise confirmed the reliability. of the weapons system and examined the offensive operations of submarines to surface of submarine units.
It is unclear whether North Korea has fully developed nuclear warheads small enough to fit on submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) or on short-range SLBMs and cruise missiles.
Analysts suggest that fixing miniaturized nuclear warheads will likely be a target if North Korea intends to resume nuclear tests.
“The submarine launching ceremony heralded the beginning of a new chapter to bolster the DPRK’s naval force,” KCNA said, using the initials of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.via REUTERS
While the country has a large submarine fleet, Submarine No. 841 is the first tactical nuclear attack submarine.
There has also been only one submarine, the experimental ballistic missile submarine 8.24 Yongung, which is known to have launched a missile.
Tal Inbar, principal investigator for the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, posted images of the new submarine making its way into the water.
In the post, Inbar said that there was a huge sail with space for several cruise and ballistic missiles.
“It won’t be long before we see it launch missiles,” he added.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn