SEOUL, September 8. /TASS/. The recently launched North Korean submarine, which is capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, will be no less formidable for the country’s adversaries than a nuclear-powered one, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said.
"Today's launching ceremony will shoulder no less burden for our enemies than building a nuclear-powered submarine," the Korean Central News Agency quoted the DPRK leader as saying about the event that was held on September 6.
"The fact that the nuclear attack submarine, considered a symbol of invasion against our republic for decades, now symbolizes our power that terrifies the shameless enemies and that it is a new attack submarine of our own style unseen by the world, is truly something welcomed by all our people," Kim Jong Un said.
South Korea's Unification Ministry condemned the "futile" development of armaments by the North.
"It is deplorable that North Korea is adhering to a futile development of weapons and squandering its lacking resources while not paying attention to difficult livelihood affairs," said Kim In-ae, the ministry's deputy spokesperson.
A source at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed doubt that the new submarine is operational.
"An analysis of the external features of the North Korean submarine so far shows that parts of it have been enlarged to carry a missile," he said, the Yonhap news service reported. "But it is assessed that (the submarine) is not in the form of being capable of normal operation."
A military source told Yonhap the new submarine appears to be an upgrade of a Romeo-class diesel submarine, with the new version presumed to be capable of launching ballistic missiles.