Government Media: Kim visits plant for nuclear-powered submarines
According to state media, North Korea's ruler Kim Jong Un has visited a production facility for nuclear-powered submarines. He supervised the test launch of "new" anti-aircraft missiles.
25.12.2025, 02:18
SDA
During his visit, Kim criticized South Korea's efforts to develop its own nuclear-powered submarines together with its ally the USA, the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported on Thursday. Kim spoke of a "threat that must be countered".
According to KCNA, Kim visited the factory on Wednesday. He spoke of the current "negative security situation". It makes it an "urgent task and indispensable option" to accelerate the "nuclear armament of the naval forces".
According to KCNA, Kim also informed himself about the ongoing research into "new secret underwater weapons". He also laid out "a strategic plan to restructure the naval forces and establish new units", KCNA reported, without giving further details.
A separate KCNA report said Kim also supervised the test of "new high-flying" long-range anti-aircraft missiles over the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, on Wednesday. "The missiles fired accurately hit the dummy targets at an altitude of 200 kilometers," KCNA said. If the KCNA statement is correct, this height would be in outer space.
Green light from Trump to South Korea
During his trip to Asia, US President Donald Trump gave his ally South Korea the green light to build a nuclear submarine. "I have given them permission to build a nuclear-powered submarine instead of the old-fashioned (...) diesel-powered submarines they currently have," Trump explained in his online service Truth Social at the end of October. The announcement sparked outrage in Pyongyang.
According to experts, North Korea itself has dozens of nuclear warheads and has repeatedly affirmed in the past that it intends to keep them despite international sanctions. Pyongyang carried out its first nuclear test in 2006. The largely isolated country argues that it needs nuclear weapons as a deterrent against an alleged military threat from the USA and its allies.
