Kim Jong-un tours ‘powerful submarine’ to be deployed east of N. Korea’s coast

State media posted photos of Kim Jong-un inspecting a massive submarine currently under construction at one of North Korea’s shipyards.

The “newly-built submarine” was presented to Kim Jong-un who gave “special attention” to the underwater vessel, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). An array of photos, it released on Tuesday, shows the North Korean leader walking around the submarine’s hull and talking to his aides.

KCNA’s visuals make it challenging to guess the actual proportions of the craft, and its report was not heavy on detail, other than to say that the date it will set sail “is near at hand.” Kim, in turn, stated that the submarine is likely to see deployment off North Korea’s eastern coast.

© KCNA via Reuters

The tight-lipped release also did not mention what types of weapons systems could be installed on board. North Korea still has a brown-water navy which operates mainly within its own territorial waters.

Pyongyang is believed to have one of the largest submarine fleets in the region, although many of the vessels are either dysfunctional or considered outdated by world standards. However, it has not abandoned efforts to build a submarine that would be able to carry ballistic missiles.

Back in 2016, after several years of development, North Korea reported that it successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile. Shortly afterwards, Kim declared a moratorium on nuclear and ballistic missile tests while engaging in denuclearization talks with the US and South Korea.

The news comes amid a lull in bumpy dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. Donald Trump and Kim have met on three occasions, most recently on the North-South border in June, but the talks have not yet produced tangible results.

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