This is Why North Korea’s New Missile Submarine Is No Joke

By Dave Majumdar,The National Interest

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea appears to be continuing on its path to developing a new diesel-electric ballistic missile submarine (SSB) despite the recent summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

South Korean lawmaker Kim Hack-yong made the claim citing intelligence reports provided last week by South Korean defense officials, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the paper, satellite imagery reviewed by South Korean intelligence officials show that North Korea is moving men and material to the port of Sinpo where the submarine is believed to be under construction.

(This first appeared last month.)

Despite the new development, some South Korean experts believe it is too early to give up on the Trump-Kim deal.

“It’s too early to say if the North Koreans have defaulted on the Singapore agreement to denuclearize,” Yang Uk, chief defense analyst at Korea Defense and Security Forum, told the Wall Street Journal.

“But earlier satellite images have already shown enough evidence proving North Korea has not abandoned its SLBM program.”

The North Korean SSB and its submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) are not new developments—arms control experts have been tracking Pyongyang’s developments for years.