North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, recently visited a shipyard to review the progress on an ambitious project: the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine. The Korean Central News Agency, the country’s official news outlet, characterized this vessel as an “8000-tonne-class” submarine. Kim regards this development as pivotal in modernizing and bolstering North Korea’s naval capabilities with nuclear armaments.

The North Korean regime plans to equip this submarine with nuclear weaponry, referring to it as a “strategic guided missile submarine” or a “strategic nuclear attack submarine.” Such terminology underscores the submarine’s intended role in enhancing the country’s military deterrence.

During his inspection, Kim criticized South Korea’s ambition to acquire a nuclear-powered submarine, a move that has found support from former U.S. President Donald Trump. Kim labeled these efforts as an “offensive act,” asserting that they seriously infringe upon North Korea’s security and maritime sovereignty.

He further argued that South Korea’s plans necessitate a swift advancement in North Korea’s naval capabilities. Kim claimed that completing the nuclear-powered submarine would constitute an “epoch-making” step towards reinforcing the country’s nuclear deterrent in the face of perceived threats.

While the Korean Central News Agency did not specify the exact date of Kim’s visit to the shipyard, it did release photographs showing him alongside senior officials and his daughter. The images depict Kim inspecting a large, burgundy-colored vessel, treated with anti-corrosion paint, within an assembly hall. This marks the first time since March that North Korean state media has published images of the submarine, previously offering only glimpses of its lower sections.

It was the first time North Korean state media had released images of the submarine since March, when they mostly showed the lower sections of the vessel.

It was not immediately clear how close North Korea is to completing the vessel.

But because submarines are typically built from the inside out, the release of what appears to be a largely completed hull suggests that many core components, including the engine and possibly the reactor, are already in place, said Moon Keun-sik, a submarine expert at Seoul’s Hanyang University.

“Showing the entire vessel now seems to indicate that most of the equipment has already been installed and it is just about ready to be launched into the water,” said Moon, a former submarine officer in the South Korean navy, who believes the North Korean submarine could possibly be tested at sea within months.

A nuclear-powered submarine is Kim’s next major military goal

A nuclear-powered submarine was one item on a long wish list of sophisticated weaponry that Kim announced during a major political conference in 2021 to cope with what he called growing US-led military threats.

Other weapons were solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, spy satellites and multi-warhead missiles.

North Korea has conducted a series of tests to develop some of those systems and recently unveiled a new naval destroyer, which Kim hailed as a major step toward expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of the country’s nuclear forces.

If North Korea obtains a submarine capable of operating stealthily for extended periods and launching missiles from underwater, it would be a worrying development for its neighbours, as such launches would be difficult to detect in advance.

But there have been questions about whether North Korea, a heavily sanctioned and impoverished country, could get resources and technology to build nuclear-powered submarines.

Some experts say North Korea’s recent alignment with Russia — including sending thousands of troops and military equipment to support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine — may have helped it to receive crucial technologies in return.

South Korea seeks its own nuclear-powered submarine

During a summit with Trump in November, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for US support for South Korea’s efforts to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, while reaffirming a commitment to increase defense spending to ease the burden on the United States.

In a separate report, KCNA said Kim on Wednesday supervised a test of a new, long-range anti-air missile that was fired toward its eastern sea.

South Korea’s Defence Ministry didn’t immediately comment on the launch.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened in recent years as Kim accelerated his military nuclear program and deepened alignment with Moscow following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

His government has repeatedly dismissed calls by Washington and Seoul to revive negotiations aimed at winding down his nuclear and missile programs, which derailed in 2019 following a collapsed summit with Trump during the American president’s first term.