Nuclear Submarines

[Anchor Lead]

Seoul denied on Wednesday that it reached an agreement with the U.S. on South Korea’s possession of nuclear-powered submarines. However, it is expected that the issue will be discussed at an upcoming bilateral summit on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. This is because nuclear-propelled submarines are an essential combat element to confront North Korea's submarine-launched ballistic missile capability.

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North Korea fired a Pukguksong-1 submarine-launched ballistic missile in August last year. The missile's range is presumed to be more than 2,000 kilometers, given that it flew 500 kilometers at an altitude of 590 kilometers.

[Soundbite] (Korean Central TV(N. Korea, Aug. 25, 2016)) : "Kim Jong-un called this underwater launch of a ballistic missile from a strategic submarine the greatest success and victory."

North Korea boasted confidence by revealing the design plan of the Pukguksong-3 missile last month. Continuing analysis is that North Korea is building a new 3,000-ton submarine that is capable of carrying three or four submarine-launched ballistic missiles at once. The North already possesses a diesel submarine capable of carrying one ballistic missile.

[Soundbite] Moon Geun-sik(Former Navy Submarine Fleet Commander) : "No one knows when and where missiles will be fired, since submarine-launched ballistic missiles conceal nuclear warheads underwater. It is the most threatening weapons system."

A nuclear-powered submarine using enriched uranium as fuel is virtually able to operate underwater limitlessly. It is also better than a diesel submarine in terms of armament, sonar ability and mobility. Nuclear-propelled submarines are attracting attention, since North Korea's submarine-launched ballistic missile threats have been realized. Nuclear-power submarines are necessary in order to be able to trace a North Korean submarine loaded with ballistic missiles for an extended period of time without being detected. Experts predict that South Korea will take just five years to build a nuclear-powered submarine if it is promoted as a state project.