South Korean media reported on Tuesday that the country’s military has detected signs of the nuke-capable North Korea starting to construct a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor.
Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of North Korea, inspected a project to build a nuclear-powered submarine in January. In a report to Kang Dae Sik, a lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, the Defense Intelligence Agency of South Korea said that “partial signs that appear to be the start of the submarine’s construction have been detected.”
However, the intelligence report said “further confirmation is needed” on whether the submarine used nuclear propulsion as construction work was in its early stages.
Newsweek reached out to the North Korean embassy in Beijing for comment via email.
According to South Korea’s defense white paper, North Korea has about 70 various types of submarines, all of which are conventionally powered, including a nuclear attack submarine unveiled in September last year, capable of conducting attacks with nukes.
Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP
A nuclear-powered submarine can be operated for very long periods before refueling, and food supplies and maintenance are the only limits on its voyage. In 1954, the United States launched the world’s first submarine that used atomic energy as a power source.
In relation to the situation on the Korean Peninsula, only the U.S., Russia, and China operate submarines with nuclear propulsion. South Korea and Japan, which are the U.S.’s security treaty allies, have conventionally powered submarines in service only.
North Korea, which has yet to obtain a submarine nuclear reactor, was spotted building a submarine larger than existing vessels at its submarine facilities, indicating a possibility of using nuclear propulsion due to its size, an official from the South Korean military added.
During a party congress in January 2021, Kim Jong Un said that a nuclear-powered submarine was under development. He also vowed to bolster the country’s nuclear arsenal.
The news of North Korea building a possible nuclear-powered submarine came as the U.S. and South Korean navies held talks last month to strengthen their joint capabilities against North Korea’s nuclear attack submarine. The North is said to have 50 nuclear warheads.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy has recently sent at least two of its nuclear-powered attack submarines to waters in and near the Korean Peninsula as a show of force. The USS Vermont visited South Korea on September 23, while the USS Seawolf arrived in Japan on October 4.
In response to the Vermont‘s visit to South Korea, Kim Yo Jong, the outspoken sister of Kim Jong Un, accused the U.S. of threatening the security of the North, saying it was part of Washington’s nuclear threat and blackmail on Pyongyang.
