North Korea Developing Vertical Launching System for SLBMs

Forum Contacts RSS		RUSSIAN

North Korea Developing Vertical Launching System for SLBMs - Reports

RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED 16.09.2014

North Korea could be developing a new vertical launching system for submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), a South Korean Defense Ministry official said Monday.

“Based on recent US and South Korean intelligence, we have detected signs of North Korea developing a vertical missile launch tube for submarines” the official was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse .

At the same time South Korean Defense Ministry representative Kim Min-seok said at a press conference Monday that the ministry could not confirm whether the DPRK had an operational SLBM system.

“There is no confirmed information yet that a North Korean submarine capable of launching ballistic missiles is in operation,” Min-seok said.

According to data compiled by Global Firepower (GFP), the DPRK in ranked first in the world by submarine strength with a total of 78, surpassing the United States, China and Russia in 2014. However, the North Korean submarines are mostly obsolete Soviet and Chinese vessels.

The possibility of mounting a vertical launching system for SLBMs could significantly strengthen the DPRK Navy’s capabilities, as North Korea has been able to miniaturize a nuclear warhead for use on a ballistic missile, the US Defense Intelligence Agency stated in April 2013.

North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2005 and conducted a series of underground nuclear weapon tests in the following years. Pyongyang’s nuclear program has triggered mass protests from the international community, including demands for the nation to return to the so-called six-party negotiations, comprising North and South Korea, Russia, the United States, China and Japan, on the reduction of its nuclear activities.

Topics: Asia, DPRK

Other news:

Russian Nuclear Experts Present Bushehr-2 NPP Project in Iran

Several Russian companies, including OKB Gidropress and Atomstroyexport participated in the seminar.

Iran Detains Ukrainian Citizen Suspected of Sabotage at Bushehr NPP: Reports

The report did not specify the time of the incident.

Russia and Algeria have signed an agreement concerning the cooperation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy

The Agreement was signed on September 3, 2014 in Algeria.

Hero of the day

The ISTC Responsible Science Program and Subprogram Culture of Nuclear Nonproliferation

The dual-use nature of nuclear technology consisting in the potential for its application equally in peaceful and military sphere is the basic contradiction for the existing nuclear nonproliferation regime and comprehensive development of the nuclear power and nuclear fuel cycle.

INTERVIEW

Jerry Hopwood
We are currently working with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) on this approach, which was submitted in response to their February 2012 call for alternative proposals. We appreciate that the UK is in the early stages of their policy development activities and are pleased to be involved in such important work.

OPINION

Joint Plan of Action
The goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually-agreed long-term comprehensive solution that would ensure Iran's nuclear programme will be exclusively peaceful. Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek or develop any nuclear weapons.