North Korea on Thursday released new images of what it claims is its first nuclear-powered submarine, a massive vessel equal in size to some of the United States Navy’s attack subs.
Pictures released by state media showed leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the guided missile submarine at an indoor construction facility, indicating it has not yet been launched.
The images show substantial progress had been made on the sub, the existence of which was first announced in March.
State media said the sub had a displacement of 8,700 tons, making it an equal to most of the nuclear-powered Virginia-class attack subs in the US fleet.
Building a nuclear-powered submarine was one of the goals Kim unveiled at a ruling party congress in 2021, and in a Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report on Thursday Kim stressed its importance to Pyongyang’s defense status.
“Noting that our defense policy is literally a defensive policy based on the strongest offensive power, he said that to this end, we regard the super-powerful offensive capability as the best shield for national security in developing the armed forces,” the KCNA report said.
The report noted that South Korea is pursuing a nuclear-powered submarine with the blessing of the United States, an action it said violated North Korean security and was a threat that needed to be countered.
Pictures of the event show Kim was accompanied by his daughter, believed to be Kim Ju Ae, who has made several public appearances recently, prompting speculation he is preparing a future successor.
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