North Korea unveils nuclear-powered submarine for first time

North Korea unveils nuclear-powered submarine, posing security threat to South Korea and U.S., amid escalating military tensions.

North Korea unveiled for the first time a nuclear-powered submarine under construction, a weapons system that can pose a major security threat to South Korea and the United States.

State media on Saturday (March 8, 2025) released photos showing what it called “a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine,” as it reported leader Kim Jong Un's visits to major shipyards where warships are built.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), didn’t provide details on the submarine, but said Mr. Kim was briefed on its construction. “The naval vessel appears to be a 6,000-tonne-class or 7,000-tonne-class one which can carry about 10 missiles,” said Moon Keun-sik, a South Korean submarine expert who teaches at Seoul’s Hanyang University.

He said the use of the term “the strategic guided missiles” meant it would carry nuclear-capable weapons. “It would be absolutely threatening to us and the U.S.,” Mr. Moon said.

A nuclear-powered submarine was among a long wishlist of sophisticated weaponry that Mr. Kim vowed to introduce during a major political conference in 2021 to cope with what he called escalating U.S.-led military threats. Other weapons were solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, spy satellites and multi-warhead missiles. North Korea has since performed a run of testing activities to acquire them.

North Korea obtaining a greater ability to fire missiles from underwater is a worrying development because it's difficult for its rivals to detect such launches in advance.

Questions about how North Korea, a heavily sanctioned and impoverished country, could get resources and technology to build nuclear-powered submarines have surfaced.