Kim Jong-un’s tyrannical regime claims it has developed a nuclear attack submarine bizarrely dubbed ‘Hero Kim Kun Ok’ – North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency claims it can launch tactical nuclear weapons from underwater
Kim Jong-un was today depicted unveiling what his tyrannical regime claims is a new nuclear attack submarine that can fire nukes underwater.
In scenes shared on North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, the dictator is shown at a grand unveiling ceremony for the sub – bizarrely dubbed 'Hero Kim Kun Ok'.
The rogue state claims the vessel is designed to launch tactical nuclear weapons from underwater and Kim Jong-un described the milestone as crucial in his efforts to build a nuclear-armed navy to counter the United States and its Asian allies.
The sub carries an unknown quantity of tactical nukes which have less impact than conventional atomic weapons.
Usually a tactical weapon is used when friendly forces are close by and is aimed at gaining strategically on the battlefield.
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South Korean officials were sceptical that the submarine would work as North Korea described and said it likely wasn't ready for operational duty.
But the claims underline how the North continues to boost the range of its nuclear arsenal with systems that are harder to detect in advance.
Based on Kim Jong Un's comments and photos by North Korean state media, the sub could be the same one Kim inspected in 2019 while it was under construction.
At the time, experts assessed it as an effort to convert an existing Romeo-class submarine.
It has at least ten launch tubes – four of them apparently larger than the other six – that are possibly designed for missiles.
Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: "This submarine, though heavily modified, is based on 1950s Soviet-origin technology and will have inherent limitations.
“Nevertheless, in terms of complicating the targeting challenges that the US and its allies will face, the submarine will serve North Korea's purposes.”
In recent years, North Korea tested a variety of missiles designed to be fired from submarines as it pursued the ability to conduct nuclear strikes from underwater.
This would bolster its deterrent by ensuring a survivable capability to retaliate after absorbing a nuclear attack on land.
Satellite photos placed the submarine and the ceremony that Kim took part in to mark the sub’s existence in the eastern port city of Sinpo, where North Korea runs a major shipyard developing submarines.
The images showed the submarine alongside a dock.
It has red-white-and-blue bunting.
The submarine still appeared to be at port Friday morning, according to other images taken by Planet.
It is believed Kim is preparing to visit Russia for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin to discuss North Korean arms sales to refill Russian reserves drained by its war on Ukraine.
In exchange for providing Russia with artillery shells and other ammunition, North Korea could seek badly needed economic aid and also advanced weapons technologies, including those related to submarine-launched ballistic missile systems, intercontinental ballistic missiles and military spy satellites, analysts say.
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