North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un inspected a project to build a nuclear-powered submarine, state media reported on Saturday. “Radically” boosting the country's navy was a key part of its defensive strategy.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un inspects a nuclear submarine during a visit to a shipyard in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 8, 2025. (KCNA via Reuters)
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Kim visited shipyards focused on building warships, the Korean Central News Agency reported, without giving details of the exact date or location of the inspection.
The agency's report said Kim “learned about the building of a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine”, which was one of Kim's key military goals on a laundry list of high tech weaponry unveiled at a previous party congress.
According to Yonhap news agency, this is the first time the nuclear-capable country has revealed construction of a ballistic missile submarine.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un inspects a nuclear submarine during a visit to a shipyard, in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 8, 2025.
KCNA quoted Kim as saying that North Korea's “sea defence capability…will be fully displayed in any necessary waters without limitation”.
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KCNA quoted Kim as saying that North Korea's “sea defence capability…will be fully displayed in any necessary waters without limitation”.
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In 2023, North Korean state media reported on the launch of the country's first "tactical nuclear attack submarine" -- although the South Korean military said at the time that the vessel might not be operational, according to a report by AFP.
According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a US-based think tank, North Korea is estimated to have between 64 and 86 submarines, one of the world's largest fleets.
However, experts doubt if all of them are operational given their age, according to NTI.
Aimed at showing off North Korea's “counterattack” capabilities, the country carried out a test-launch of strategic cruise missiles in the Yellow Sea last week.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
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