North Korea Unveils First Tactical Nuclear Attack Submarine... Accelerates Construction of Nuclear-Powered Submarine

Constructing 3,000-ton Submarine Equipped with 3 SLBMs
Promoting Core Technology Transfer through Summit with Russia

On the 8th, North Korea announced that it had built its first tactical nuclear attack submarine capable of launching nuclear attacks underwater, named the ‘Kim Gun-ok Hero Ship’ (No. 841). This new submarine with advanced technology was unveiled just one day before the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean regime (September 9th).

The North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on the same day, "The heroic munitions working class, scientists, and technicians who are infinitely loyal to our Party's revolutionary cause have built a tactical nuclear attack submarine of our style and presented it as a gift to the motherland on its 75th anniversary." The launching ceremony of the Kim Gun-ok Hero Ship held on the 6th was attended by Chairman Kim Jong-un along with Marshal Ri Pyong-chol, Marshal Pak Jong-chon, and Premier Kim Tok-hun.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The newly built tactical nuclear attack submarine by North Korea is estimated to be an improved Romeo-class (around 3,000 tons). Photos released by North Korean media show that the submarine is equipped with launch tubes capable of firing submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). It appears to have six small launch tubes and four large launch tubes. It is presumed that this submarine can launch new SLBMs such as the ‘Pukguksong-3ㅅ’ and nuclear torpedoes called ‘Haeil’.

Until now, the only submarine from which North Korea has test-fired SLBMs was the whale-class submarine named ‘8.24 Hero Ship’ (around 2,000 tons). This submarine can carry only one SLBM and cannot conduct prolonged underwater operations, so it was considered to have low military effectiveness. Besides the ‘8.24 Hero Ship,’ North Korea possesses about 80 submarines, including 23 Romeo-class, 38 Shark-class, and 23 Yugoslavian-class submarines. However, these submarines are noisy and slow, making deep-sea operations impossible.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In response, Chairman Kim officially announced the development of nuclear submarines for the first time at the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party in January 2021, stating, "The new nuclear submarine design research has been completed and is in the final review stage." In his congratulatory speech at the launching ceremony, Kim said, "The reality of the No. 841 ‘Kim Gun-ok Hero Ship’ being launched today is the standard model of the tactical nuclear submarine intended to convert our navy’s existing medium-sized submarines into attack-type submarines, as mentioned last Navy Day." He emphasized, "The means of nuclear attack submarines, which have been a symbol of invasion against the Republic for decades, have now become a revolutionary power symbol that terrifies shameless enemies."

North Korea is expected to accelerate the construction of nuclear-powered submarines in the future. Chairman Kim also revealed plans to build nuclear-powered submarines following the tactical nuclear attack submarines, stating, "We will introduce advanced propulsion systems and improve overall submerged operational capabilities for existing medium-sized submarines, especially the new nuclear-powered submarines planned ahead."

North Korea views nuclear-powered submarines as a ‘game changer’ that could alter the dynamics of negotiations with the United States. Conventional diesel submarines must surface every day or up to once every two weeks, making long-term operations difficult. In contrast, nuclear-powered submarines can operate underwater for 3 to 6 months, allowing them to launch surprise SLBM attacks near the U.S. mainland, delivering a critical blow to the United States.

North Korea is expected to request key nuclear-powered submarine technologies from Russia during the upcoming summit between Chairman Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin next week. Russia is a submarine powerhouse with 64 submarines, including 43 nuclear-powered ones. Although North Korea reportedly hacked domestic companies such as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2021 to steal submarine design blueprints and other materials, analysts believe it has not acquired the core technologies.

Meanwhile, countries possessing nuclear-powered submarines include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and India. Recently, the United States decided to sell up to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia to counter China, meaning Australia will soon join this group.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.