North Korea Unveils its First Nuclear-Powered Submarine

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has unveiled the completed hull of what his government claims to be its first nuclear-powered submarine.

To date, North Korea's submarine fleet has consisted of Soviet-era conventionally powered attack subs, which have comparatively limited capability in a modern context. North Korea also commissioned a conventionally-powered ballistic missile sub, the Yongung, in the 2010s and used it to test-fire a sub-launched ballistic missile in 2016. A second ballistic missile sub crafted out of a modified 1960s-era Romeo-class attack sub was spotted in 2019.

The new nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed ballistic missile sub has been under construction for some time, and its completed hull was first unveiled on Christmas Day. It is likely near to being fully outfitted, ex-submariner and analyst Moon Keun-Sik of Hanyang University told AP. Ballistic missile launch trials may still be some years off, given the challenges of bringing a first-in-class sub into operation and training a naval reactor crew.

North Korea is capable of producing its own nuclear fuel, nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Its access to naval reactor technology is less certain, as is the functionality of the vessel that Kim revealed on December 25. If it is a functional vessel, speculation has circulated about whether Russia could have supplied technical assistance for the North Korean reactor program - or even a complete reactor.

Some form of a military-to-military trade between Russia and the North is likely: Kim supplied 10,000 North Korean infantry troops to assist Russian military operations against Ukraine in 2024, and the force sustained heavy losses before being ultimately withdrawn. The North has also provided Russia with hundreds of thousands of rounds of howitzer ammunition, sustaining Russian artillery units for the war.

In unveiling the new sub, Kim also criticized South Korea's plans to build the same type of equipment. In a statement carried by state media, he called the newly-announced joint U.S.-South Korean nuclear attack sub development program an "aggressive act that seriously infringes on national safety and maritime sovereignty that must be countered," and said that North Korea would "further accelerate" its nuclear-navy program in response.