hankyoreh

Close up view of new components seen at the storage yard=38 North (Yonhap news)

An American website specializing in North Korean affairs said that it had detected activity in North Korea that it believes to be the construction of a new submarine that would be large enough to fire several submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) in a row.

After analyzing commercial satellite images taken on Sep. 24, 38 North said on Sep. 30 that a circular component that is 10 meters in diameter was seen next to large gantry cranes at the Sinpo Shipyard in South Hamgyong Province in North Korea.

This circular component could be used to build the pressure hull inside a submarine, 38 North concluded. If a circular component that is 10 meters in diameter were used to build a submarine, the resulting craft would be larger than the experimental Gorae-class submarine (about 7 meters [in diameter]) that North Korea has been using for its SLBM tests, the website believes.

While the Gorae-class submarine that carried out North Korea’s successful SLBM test in August only has one launch tube, a larger submarine, if constructed, could carry two, three or even more launch tubes, which would enable consecutive SLBM launches.

In related news, Ahn Ho-young, South Korean ambassador to the US, was asked about whether the US has a policy of launching a preemptive strike against North Korea during the parliamentary audit by the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, which took place at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, DC, on Oct. 1. “At least, we’ve never held any deliberations [about a preemptive strike against North Korea] in Washington, nor have we received a request from the American government for deliberations about a preemptive strike,” Ahn said.

By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]