2 days ago
11
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also reportedly oversaw the test of "new-type high-altitude long-range anti-air missiles", which were said to have hit mock targets at an altitude of 200km.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching surface-to-air missiles in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Dec 25, 2025. (Photo: KCNA via REUTERS)
SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a nuclear-powered submarine manufacturing site and also oversaw the test launch of "new-type" anti-air missiles, state media said on Thursday (Dec 25).
During his visit on Wednesday to the nuclear sub plant, Kim bashed South Korea's recent push to develop its own nuclear-powered subs with the United States, calling it a "threat ... that must be countered," the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
US President Donald Trump gave the green light for South Korea to build nuclear-powered subs during his trip to the country in October, sparking outrage from the nuclear-armed North.
However, key details, such as where the vessels would actually be built, remain uncertain.
Photos published by KCNA showed Kim walking alongside a purportedly 8,700-tonne submarine at an indoor assembly site, surrounded by officials and his daughter Kim Ju Ae.
In this undated photo provided Thursday, Dec 25, 2025, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, with his daughter, inspects a nuclear-powered submarine under construction at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In another image, Kim Jong Un smiles during an official briefing as Kim Ju Ae stands beside him.
Only a handful of countries have nuclear-powered submarines, while the United States considers its technology among the most sensitive and tightly guarded military secrets.
Last month, in the North's first comments on the US-South Korea deal, a commentary piece by KCNA called the programme a "dangerous attempt at confrontation", and said it could lead to a "nuclear domino phenomenon".
Kim on Wednesday said that the current "negative security situation" made it an "urgent task and indispensable option" to more rapidly advance the "nuclear weaponisation of the naval force", KCNA reported.
The North Korean leader also learned about ongoing research on "new underwater secret weapons" and "clarified a strategic plan for reorganising the naval forces and establishing new units," KCNA said, without further details.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, a test of a long-range anti-air missile is launched towards its eastern sea, as seen from an undisclosed location in North Korea, Wednesday, Dec 24, 2025. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In a separate report, KCNA said Kim oversaw the test on Wednesday of "new-type high-altitude long-range anti-air missiles" over the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
"The launched missiles accurately hit the mock targets at an altitude of 200km," KCNA said. That height, if correct, would be in space.
"The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un extended congratulations on the successful test-fire," KCNA said.
