SBS reported this Sunday that South Korean military intelligence revealed that they had witnessed North Korea developing submarines with ballistic, nuclear missile launching capabilities. The South Korean military is on constant watch for any suspicious moves the KPA (Korean People's Army) might make to disrupt the Incheon Asian Games that will be starting in the next few days.
Intelligence announced that they had captured satellite images of submarines in North Korean ports that look very similar to Russia's 3000 ton "Golf" class submarine. The Russian navy decommissioned this class of submarine, and there is the possibility that the KPA had purchased the technology and modified it.
If it is true that North Korea has indeed acquired such technology, then even from within North Korean seas, they would be able to fire ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads at a target as far away as Guam. For a submarine to be able to carry and launch missiles from under the sea, the vessel must be at least 3000 tons. It is believed that North Korea certainly has acquired submarines that are this size.
However, there are mixed opinions concerning whether the North Korean military has the capital or the technology necessary to build submarines with underwater missile launchers.
As of now, the KPA is the 3rd largest military in the world after China and India, and North Korea as also known to have the world's largest submarine fleet. While their naval ships are armed with only World War II era tank turrets and anti-aircraft guns, North Korea's navy is still a considerable threat to South Korea because of the sheer number of submarines they possess.
In an interview with Channel A, now retired Admiral Seong-man Kim, former commander of the R.O.K. Navy expressed that Korea is at a serious disadvantage in the case of a full-scale maritime conflict with North Korea. Despite the fact that South Korea possesses a state-of-the-art fleet of destroyers that are capable of detecting and targeting enemy submarines, the retired admiral suggested the KPA just has too many of them for the R.O.K. navy to handle.
Meanwhile, South Korean intelligence has also detected the KPA test-firing several missiles a few days earlier, and are still keeping watch over their enemy for any sudden unexpected moves they might make.
