North Korea just launched a nuclear submarine. There should be alarm bells ringing all over the place with this move.

North Korea claimed Friday to have launched a new “tactical nuclear attack submarine,” in a ceremony full of pomp and self-congratulation at the Sinpho shipyard on the North’s east coast.

Leader Kim Jong Un, in a beige suit and a borrowed naval cap, said that the new submarine was capable of “both preemptive and retaliatory strike,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported Friday morning.

North Korea had a “plan to remodel existing medium-sized submarines into offensive ones loaded with tactical nuclear weapons to play an important role in the modern warfare,” state media quoted Kim as saying. He described the approach as a “low-cost ultra-modernization strategy.”

The claim was impossible to immediately verify, and North Korea has a track record of boasting about achievements it has not quite attained. But with both its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs, it has surprised analysts by overcoming technical challenges to eventually demonstrate credible and operational weapons systems.

Yes, those who watch North Korea keep getting surprised at what the Communist government is able to accomplish. How many rockets has North Korea launched in the last few years? Many.

They’ve also been very busy working to build up their fleet of ships and submarines. 

It is also unclear whether North Korea has fully developed the miniaturised nuclear warheads needed to fit on such missiles. Analysts say that perfecting smaller warheads would most likely be a key goal if the North resumes nuclear testing.

North Korea has a large submarine fleet but only the experimental ballistic missile submarine 8.24 Yongung (August 24th Hero) is known to have launched a missile.

“This is likely intended to field the navalized version of the KN23, which they’ve acknowledged as a delivery system for their compact nuclear warhead,” said Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, citing the short-range SLBM that the North has test-fired.

It ALSO explains in part why Putin and Kim Jong Un plan to meet this month. And what, exactly will they discuss? Arms, food, uranium, their animosity towards the United States? All of the above I’d guess. 

The implications of all of this are huge on a number of levels.

A. Kim Jong Un wants nukes in order to make sure they have the military might he desires 

B. North Koreans are starving so they need Russian grain

C. Russia and North Korea have a mutual adversary in the United States

D. The Biden Administration is weak on foreign policy. We all know that and THEY know that

Keep in mind, North Korea has been actively engaged in building up a ballistic missile program as well as a nuclear program. They are just as much of a concern as is Iran and China. There are so many strategic, global, and economic concerns with this move. Which is outlined in full in the tweet below:

North Korea's Nuclear Submarine Developments
North Korea has recently made headlines by announcing the construction of a nuclear attack submarine.

This development has raised concerns and speculations worldwide due to its significance in global security and the regional power…

— Kuzey Piyasası (@kuzeypiyasasi) September 7, 2023

I’d urge our readers to click on the tweet and read it all. Quite thought provoking. Especially when one considers the global considerations of what the other adversarial players are doing on the world stage. 

Communist China's military threats are only growing in the Indo-Pacific.

That's why I support an approach to AUKUS that ensures both the U.S. & Australia are able to fully meet their requirements for nuclear-powered attack subs. https://t.co/cweLFmdQ3k

— Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) September 8, 2023

Our military has had leaders laser focused on the DEI – diversity/equity/inclusion and climate change crap, leaving our battle readiness in the toilet. Good people are and have been leaving the military because battle readiness has NOT been the focus. Which, as Toni wrote here, even our military contractors are unprepared to ramp up quickly. 

Now, in just a matter of weeks, we have three adversaries colluding on a number of fronts. China conducts military exercises with Russia and now there will be a NORK/Russia summit this month. 

Meanwhile, what does the Biden Administration have to say about this latest move? 

BIDEN ADVISOR SULLIVAN: North Korea will 'pay a price' if country provides weapons to Russia pic.twitter.com/mTQl3sahlV

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 5, 2023

So, will North Korea ‘pay a price’ for launching a nuclear submarine? Right now, given how weak the Biden Administration is, anything that is said is weak sauce. 

North Korea’s statement regarding the launch clearly signals their intentions for the future. 

“The nuclear attack submarine, which has been used as a symbol of aggression against the republic for the past decades, now symbolizes our threatening power to terrorize unscrupulous enemies, and the fact that it is a new type of attack submarine of our own that the world has never known before is truly an auspicious occasion that all our people will welcome,” he said, according to the outlet.

I’m pretty sure the citizens of North Korea would much rather have food and freedom than nuclear weapons. 

But again, the larger implications of this move, whether the nuclear submarine is fully capable or not, is that North Korea has BUILT a nuclear submarine. What will the Biden Administration do or say to this? They can’t blame Trump, but they’ll try to. 

Feature Photo Credit: North Korea flag and missile launch via iStock, cropped and modified