North Korea’s development of what the country claims is its first nuclear-powered submarine – with the potential to fire Pukguksong-6 missiles 12,000km to hit targets as far away as the continental United States – is seen as a “vanity project” rather than a sign of its enhanced naval capabilities.
Earlier this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was seen standing beside a submarine under construction at an undisclosed shipyard in North Korea, with state-run media reporting that he was admiring the country’s first “nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine”.