Kim (3rd from left) during his visit to the shipyard. Image: keystone
December 25, 2025, 4:44 p.mDecember 25, 2025, 4:44 p.m
According to state media, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a production facility for nuclear-powered submarines. He monitored the test launch of “new” anti-aircraft missiles.
During his visit, Kim criticized South Korea’s efforts to develop its own nuclear-powered submarines together with its ally the United States, the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported on Thursday. Kim therefore spoke of a “threat that must be addressed”.
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 advance the “nuclear armament of the naval forces” more quickly.
According to KCNA, Kim also informed himself about ongoing research into “new secret underwater weapons.” He also set out “a strategic plan to restructure the naval forces and establish new units,” KCNA reported, without giving further details.
Kim inspects the North Korean nuclear submarine.Image: keystone
A separate KCNA report said Kim also oversaw 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 fired missiles precisely hit the dummy targets at an altitude of 200 kilometers,” KCNA said. If the KCNA information is correct, this altitude would be in space.
Green light from Trump to South Korea
US President Donald Trump gave his ally South Korea the green light to build a nuclear submarine during his trip to Asia. “I gave them permission to build a nuclear-powered submarine instead of the old-fashioned (…) diesel-powered submarines they currently have,” Trump said on 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 confirmed in the past that it will keep them despite international sanctions. In 2006, Pyongyang carried out its first nuclear test. The largely isolated country argues that it needs nuclear weapons to deter an alleged military threat from the United States and its allied states. (sda/afp)