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Daily News
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“Satellite Photos Reveal North Korea Has Built Its Own Submarine Capable of Carrying Ballistic Missil”
by Herald Sun   
November 3rd, 2014

NORTH Korea is believed to have completed a homegrown submarine capable of carrying ballistic missiles — a move set to significantly extend the rogue state’s nuclear reach.

South Korean government sources were reported in local media as saying a previously unseen submarine spotted in North Korean waters in recent weeks had now been identified.

The rogue state “is believed to have completed construction of the new submarine after importing a Soviet-era Golf-class diesel submarine and reverse-engineering it,” a government source said on condition of anonymity.

The Yonhap news agency reports the submarine was based an old design which was decommissioned by Russia almost 25 years ago.

The move comes as Asia enters something of a submarine arms race, with India just the latest to announce it will be building six homegrown conventional submarines. The first nuclear powered and nuclear armed submarine to have been built on Indian soil is expected to be launched next year.

The ability for North Korea to secretly deploy nuclear-capable missiles throughout the Pacific is cause for concern in some strategic circles.

Unidentified South Korean government sources told Yonhap news agency the submarine they have observed has been modified to carry an R-21 model submarine ballistic missile (SLBM), which has a maximum range of about 1400km.

Satellite images of North Korean naval have revealed an ongoing program to develop submarine launched weapons since 2010.

Don’t look now: Kim’s got a nuke sub

Commanding position ... A North Korea capable of deploying nuclear-armed ballistic missiles on a submarine would unsettle Asia’s power balance. Source: DPRK

“A ground test facility for the SLBM launch is up and running at the Sinpo South shipyard,” the US-Korea Institute, a strategic think-tank on North-South Korean relations, states.

But the US-Korea Institute says the submarine threat should not be exaggerated, even though it was potentially real. The diesel-powered submarine will most likely require considerable testing and modification to perfect the technology.

“While the development of submarines carrying ballistic missiles could provide North Korea with a survivable second-strike nuclear capability, aside from the technological challenge, it also assumes that Pyongyang would entrust an operational nuclear-armed missile to the captain of a submarine who would, in time of war, most likely be out of communication with the leadership,” a statement posted on the institute’s website reads.

At the helm ... North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un during a recent publicity shoot on a refurbished “Romeo” class submarine. Source: DPRK

The statement says that while the facilities revealed by the satellite photographs are of the right type to test the ejection of missiles out of a launch tube, the type of missile it could carry was a matter of conjecture.

“North Korea’s capabilities would be stretched to their limit if it used a large liquid-fuelled system such as a naval version of the Musudan intermediate-range or Nodong medium-range ballistic missile,” the statement reads. “A naval version of the liquid-fuelled Scud … or an entirely new system would likely present less of an engineering challenge.”

North Korea has an arsenal of some 70 outdated submarines, though recent propaganda photographs showing leader Kim Jong Un on the conning tower of one was intended to demonstrate these vessels have been upgraded and remain capable.

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