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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced on Saturday that his country is developing new types of weapons, including a nuclear-powered submarine, as well as tactical nuclear weapons and advanced missiles aimed at penetrating missile defense systems, CNN reports.
In a comment published by the official KCNA news agency, Kim Jong-un explains why it is necessary to develop the country’s weapons: to discourage the United States. The North Korean leader says the United States is North Korea’s “greatest enemy,” a statement seen by analysts as a challenge to the world’s leading power before Joe Biden began his term as president. At the same time, Kim shows that Donald Trump’s strategy of persuasion and negotiation, including the organization of three personal summits with the North Korean leader, an unprecedented diplomatic action, failed and did not stop Pyongyang from the race to equip itself with a modern nuclear arsenal. says CNN.
“No matter who is in power in the United States, the true nature and true spirit of North Korea’s antagonistic policy will never change. The development of nuclear weapons must continue without interruption,” said the North Korean dictator.
North Korean projects, Kim says, are in various stages of development. Nearly complete is the technology of guiding multiple warheads, and studies on hypersonic flight to be printed on the new ballistic missiles are “complete.” North Korea is preparing to test and produce these weapons, Kim said.
Enhancements to tactical nuclear weapons have also been completed, the Pyongyang leader said. Tactical nuclear weapons have a short range and are less destructive than strategic nuclear weapons.
How Much Cover Does a North Korean Nuclear Sub Really Have?
As for the nuclear-powered submarine, the research is complete and the project is “in the final stages of review,” says Kim.
In July 2019, the official KCNA agency published photos of the North Korean leader inspecting the construction site of a submarine, but analysts deduced that it could be an older model of submarine, improved to equip it with missiles. Analysts now believe that Pyongyang is unlikely to be able to deploy a nuclear-powered submarine anytime soon. Although it has tested submarine-launched ballistic missiles and has a fleet of around 70 such submarines, experts believe that they are most likely old, noisy and incapable of launching nuclear weapons.
Kim’s announcements were made in front of the country’s political leaders, who gathered in Pyongyang for the 8th Congress of the Workers’ Party, a high-level meeting that sets the country’s future agenda. These meetings were held every five years, but Kim’s father, Kim Jong-il, did not hold them again after 1980. However, Kim Jong-un resumed the congresses in 2016.
Editor: Luana Pavaluca
