My last three blog posts were about the situation in North Korea. I covered aspects of North Korean government, our history with North Korea, current diplomacy, international aspects, our attempts to gain assistance from China in ending the North Korean nuclear program, and a review of the North Korean nuclear program. In reviewing these three blog posts I realized that I had not dealt with North Korean submarines. This addendum to my three-part article will cover this topic.
The North Korean military currently has about 70 submarines. This includes six Sing-Po class experimental ballistic missile submarines, 20 Romeo class submarines, 40 Sang-O class submarines class and 10 midget Yono class submarines. All of these submarines are the diesel-powered electric type. North Korea obtained the Romeo class submarines from China. They were sold to North Korea as kids and assembled by North Korea backspace. All of the other submarines mentioned have been manufactured in North Korea.
North Korean leadership is based on what is called the cult of personality. The members of the Kim Dynasty, Kim L Sung, Kim Jong-Un, and Kim Jong-Il are portrayed and revered almost as if they were gods. The founder’s birthday has always been celebrated with a massive display of military hardware. Thousands of troops marched through the public square accompanied by phalanxes of tanks, armored carriers, and missiles. Last weekend, was the annual celebration of the founder’s birth. Often, in the past, part of the celebration was the demonstration of a new military capability. Reports of preparations by North Korea for a new underground nuclear test raised fears that North Korea would carry out the test of a nuclear warhead as part of the celebration. The US warrant North Korea that it might carry out a military strike on North Korea if such a test took place. A US naval task force was dispatched to the Korean Peninsula to prepare for a possible attack on North Korea.
The world held its breath as the day of celebration came and went. Everyone was relieved when the feared nuclear test did not take place. However, the day after the celebration, the North Koreans did test a missile. The launch failed and there were rumors that the US had used cyber warfare to sabotage the test missile launch.
An analysis of the test launch of the missile the day after the big celebration has suggested that it might have been the test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile. There has been a lot of concern in the international community that North Korea will soon develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that will be able to reach cities on the West Coast of the continental United States. While this is certainly a possibility that would pose a serious threat to the national security of the US, in reality the possibility of North Korea developing the capability to launch a nuclear missile from a submarine may be an even worse threat. The US does have anti-ballistic missile systems in place on the West Coast that should be able to intercept an ICBM launched from North Korea. Any such launch could easily be traced back to North Korea and would certainly trigger a massive retaliation. On the other hand, it is difficult to track North Korean submarines once they left port. Just recently there was great concern on the part of South Korea and the US when 50 North Korean submarines sailed out of port and disappeared. North Korean submarines could easily reach the West Coast of the United States and launch intermediate range ballistic missiles that could have West Coast cities without warning. The origin of such an attack would be difficult to trace.
It will take several years to North Korea to develop ICBMs capable of accurately reaching targets in the United States. On the other hand, North Korea may be very close to achieving the capability of launching shorter range ballistic missiles from submarines. In terms of the most dangerous threat that the North Korean military may pose the national security of the United States, it would seem that North Korean submarines may be the greatest.
North Korean Singpo class submarine:
