SEOUL: North Korea has launched its first operational “tactical nuclear attack submarine” and assigned it to the fleet that patrols the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan, state media said on Friday.
Submarine No. 841 — named Hero Kim Kun Ok after a North Korea historical figure — will be one of the main “underwater offensive means of the naval force” of North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un said at the launch ceremony on Wednesday.
Analysts said the vessel appears to be a modified Soviet-era Romeo-class submarine, which North Korea acquired from China in the 1970s and began producing domestically. Its design, with 10 launch tube hatches, showed it was most likely armed with ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, analysts said.
But such weapons won’t add much value to the North’s more robust land-based nuclear forces, because the aging submarines used as the core of the new design are relatively noisy, slow and have limited range, meaning they may not survive as long during a war, said Vann Van Diepen, a former US government weapons expert who works with the 38 North project in Washington.
“When this thing is field deployed, it’s going to be quite vulnerable to allied anti-submarine warfare,” he said. “So I think from a sort of hard-headed military standpoint this doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
South Korea’s military said that the submarine didn’t appear ready for normal operations, and that there were signs North Korea was attempting to exaggerate its capabilities.
Shin Seung-ki, research Fellow at Korea Institute for Defense Analyzes (KIDA), cautioned that South Korea and the United States cannot be guaranteed to detect and destroy submerged submarines.
“It is evident that North Korea has significantly expanded and strengthened the operational capabilities of its naval forces compared to before,” he said.
At the launch ceremony, Kim said arming the navy with nuclear weapons was an urgent task and promised more underwater and surface vessels equipped with tactical nuclear weapons for the naval forces, news agency KCNA reported.
“The submarine-launching ceremony heralded the beginning of a new chapter for bolstering up the naval force of the DPRK,” KCNA said, using the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
North Korea plans to turn other existing submarines into nuclear armed vessels, and accelerate its push to eventually build nuclear-powered submarines, Kim said.
“Achieving a rapid development of our naval forces ... is a priority that cannot be delayed given ... the enemies’ recent aggressive moves and military acts,” the North Korean leader said in a speech, apparently referring to the United States and South Korea.
North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions, and the submarine launch drew condemnation from South Korea and Japan.
“North Korea’s military activity is posing graver and more imminent threat to our country’s security than before,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a briefing.
NUCLEAR ATTACK SUBMARINE
The designation as a “tactical” submarine suggests it does not carry submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) that can reach the US mainland, but rather smaller, short-range SLBMs or submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCM) capable of striking South Korea, Japan, or other regional targets, said Choi Il, a retired South Korean submarine captain.
The rear of the submarine’s sail — the tower that juts out of the top of the hull — was expanded and 10 vertical launch tubes, 4 large and 6 small, were installed, likely for SLBMs and SLCMs, he said.
North Korea has test-fired both SLBMs and SLCMs.
Shin said it can take a year or more to evaluate a new vessel at sea, so immediate deployment may be limited.
It is unclear whether North Korea has fully developed the miniaturised nuclear warheads needed for such missiles. Analysts say that perfecting smaller warheads would most likely be a key goal if the North resumes nuclear testing.
North Korea has about 20 Romeo-class submarines, which are powered by diesel-electric engines and are obsolete by modern standards, with most other countries operating them only as training vessels.
Analysts first spotted signs that at least one new submarine was being built in 2016, and in 2019 state media showed Kim inspecting a previously unreported submarine built under “his special attention” that would operate off the east coast.
North Korea has a large submarine fleet but only the experimental ballistic missile submarine 8.24 Yongung (August 24th Hero) is known to have fired a missile.
The launching ceremony comes as North Korea is set to mark the 75th anniversary of its founding day on Saturday and follows reports that Kim plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin to discuss weapons supplies to Moscow.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Jakarta, and asked Beijing to do more as a UN Security Council member to address North Korea’s nuclear threat.
North Korea unveils first tactical, nuclear-armed submarine
https://arab.news/84y2d
North Korea unveils first tactical, nuclear-armed submarine
- Submarine No. 841 will be one of the main “underwater offensive means of the naval force” of North Korea
France’s prison population reaches all-time high
- Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, who has called the overcrowding crisis “unacceptable,” has suggested building new facilities to accommodate the growing prison population
PARIS: France’s prison population hit a record high on May 1, with 83,681 inmates held in facilities that have a capacity of just 62,570, justice ministry data showed on Saturday.
Over the past year, France’s prison population grew by 6,000 inmates, taking the occupancy rate to 133.7 percent.
The record overcrowding has even seen 23 out of France’s 186 detention facilities operating at more than twice their capacity.
Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, who has called the overcrowding crisis “unacceptable,” has suggested building new facilities to accommodate the growing prison population.
The hard-line minister announced in mid-May a plan to build a high-security prison in French Guiana — an overseas territory situated north of Brazil — for the most “dangerous” criminals, including drug kingpins.
Prison overcrowding is “bad for absolutely everyone,” said Darmanin in late April, citing the “appalling conditions” for prisoners and “the insecurity and violence” faced by prison officers.
A series of coordinated attacks on French prisons in April saw assailants torching cars, spraying the entrance of one prison with automatic gunfire, and leaving mysterious inscriptions.
The assaults embarrassed the right-leaning government, whose tough-talking ministers — Darmanin and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau — have vowed to step up the fight against narcotics.
And in late April, lawmakers approved a major new bill to combat drug-related crime, with some of France’s most dangerous drug traffickers facing detention in high-security prison units in the coming months.
France ranks among the worst countries in Europe for prison overcrowding, placing third behind Cyprus and Romania, according to a Council of Europe study published in June 2024.
Evacuation order for 11 villages on Ukraine border with Russia
- Russia’s defense ministry on Saturday said its forces had taken another Sumy village, Vodolagy, known as Vodolahy in Ukrainian
KYIV: Authorities in Ukraine’s Sumy region bordering Russia on Saturday ordered the mandatory evacuation of 11 villages because of bombardments, as Kyiv feared a Russian offensive there.
“This decision takes into account the constant threat to civilian lives because of the bombardments of border communities,” Sumy’s administration said.
Russia’s defense ministry on Saturday said its forces had taken another Sumy village, Vodolagy, known as Vodolahy in Ukrainian.
Russia in recent weeks has claimed to have taken several villages in the northeastern region, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that Moscow was massing more than 50,000 soldiers nearby in a sign of a possible offensive.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s border guard service, Andriy Demchenko, on Thursday said that Russia was poised to “attempt an attack” on Sumy.
He said the Russian troop build-up began when Moscow’s forces fought Ukrainian soldiers who last year had entered the Russian side of the border, in the Kursk region.
Russia has recently retaken control of virtually all of Kursk.
Currently, Russia — which launched its all-out invasion in February 2022 — controls around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory. The ongoing conflict has killed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides.
Washington has been leading diplomatic efforts to try to bring about a ceasefire, but Kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of not wanting peace.
The Kremlin has proposed further negotiations in Istanbul on Monday, after a May 16 round of talks that yielded little beyond a large prisoner-of-war exchange.
Kyiv has not yet said whether it will attend the Istanbul meeting, and is demanding that Moscow drop its opposition to an immediate truce.
Afghanistan welcomes upgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan
- The move signals easing tensions between the neighboring countries have cooled in recent months
- Tensions fueled by security concerns and a campaign by Islamabad to expel tens of thousands of Afghans
KABUL: Afghanistan has welcomed the decision to upgrade diplomatic relations with Pakistan, where the Taliban government’s foreign minister is due to travel in the coming days, his office said on Saturday.
The move signals easing tensions between the neighboring countries, as relations between the Taliban authorities and Pakistan – already rocky – have cooled in recent months, fueled by security concerns and a campaign by Islamabad to expel tens of thousands of Afghans.
Pakistan’s top diplomat on Friday said the charge d’affaires stationed in Kabul would be elevated to the rank of ambassador, with Kabul later announcing its representative in Islamabad would also be upgraded.
“This elevation in diplomatic representation between Afghanistan & Pakistan paves the way for enhanced bilateral cooperation in multiple domains,” the Aghan foreign ministry said on X.
Kabul’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is due to visit Pakistan “in the coming days,” ministry spokesman Zia Ahmad Takal said.
Muttaqi met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in May in Beijing as part of a trilateral meeting with their Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Wang afterwards announced Kabul and Islamabad’s intention to exchange ambassadors and expressed Beijing’s willingness “to continue to assist with improving Afghanistan-Pakistan ties.”
Dar hailed the “positive trajectory” of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations on Friday, saying the upgrading of their representatives would “promote further exchanges between two fraternal countries.”
Only a handful of countries – including China – have agreed to host Taliban government ambassadors since their return to power in 2021, with no country yet formally recognizing the administration.
Russia last month said it would also accredit a Taliban government ambassador, days after removing the group’s “terrorist” designation.
China rebukes Macron's comparison of Ukraine and Taiwan
- China's embassy fired back that the "Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affair
SINGAPORE: China hit back at French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday for drawing a connection between the Ukraine conflict and the fate of Taiwan, saying the two issues are "different in nature, and not comparable at all".
"Comparing the Taiwan question with the Ukraine issue is unacceptable," China's embassy in Singapore said on social media, a day after Macron warned Asian defence officials in Singapore not to view Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a far-away problem.
"If we consider that Russia could be allowed to take a part of the territory of Ukraine without any restriction, without any constraint, without any reaction of the global order, how would you phrase what could happen in Taiwan?" Macron told the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier annual security forum.
"What would you do the day something happens in the Philippines?"
China's embassy fired back that the "Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affair. There is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory."
While Taiwan considers itself a sovereign nation, China has said it will not rule out using force to bring it under its control.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Saturday at the same forum in Singapore that China was "credibly preparing" to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia, adding the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and "rehearsing for the real deal".
South Koreans rally for presidential hopefuls days before vote
- All major polls have placed liberal Lee Jae-myung well ahead in the presidential race
SEOUL: Thousands of supporters of South Korea’s two leading presidential candidates rallied on Saturday in Seoul, days before a vote triggered by the ex-leader’s disastrous declaration of martial law.
Tuesday’s election caps months of political turmoil sparked by Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief suspension of civilian rule in December, for which he was impeached and removed from office.
All major polls have placed liberal Lee Jae-myung well ahead in the presidential race, with a recent Gallup survey showing 49 percent of respondents viewed him as the best candidate.
Kim Moon-soo, from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) that Yoon left this month, trailed behind at 35 percent.
Organizers from both camps told police they expected tens of thousands of supporters to rally in Seoul on Saturday.
In Seocho, in the south of the capital, Lee supporters gathered holding signs condemning Yoon’s “insurrection.”
“I believe the outcome of the presidential election is already decided,” Lee Kyung-joon, a Lee supporter, told AFP.
“I came to today’s rally to help condemn the forces involved in the martial law attempt,” he added, referring to ex-president Yoon’s political allies.
Yoon is currently on trial for insurrection, and Kwon Oh-hyeok, one of the organizers of Saturday’s rally, said a Lee victory in the June 3 vote was crucial to holding him accountable.
“Isn’t the People Power Party’s decision to run in the snap election — triggered by Yoon’s removal from office — an insult and a betrayal of the people?” Kwon told rally participants.
“Fellow citizens, we must win by a landslide to deliver the justice this moment demands.”
On the other side of town, in Gwanghwamun Square, conservatives — including supporters of disgraced ex-leader Yoon — filled the streets holding signs that read “Yoon Again” and “Early voting is invalid!“
Yoon’s martial law attempt, which he claimed was necessary to “root out” pro-North Korean, “anti-state” forces, emboldened a wave of extreme supporters including far-right YouTubers and radical religious figures.
Many have spread unverified content online, including allegations of Chinese espionage and fraud within South Korea’s electoral system.
That sentiment was on full display at Saturday’s rally, where protesters called for the dissolution of the National Election Commission over a series of mishaps during the two-day early voting period this week.
“People believe the root of all these problems lies with the National Election Commission, and that it should be held accountable,” conservative protester Rhee Kang-san told AFP.
Both frontrunner Lee of the liberal Democratic Party and conservative challenger Kim have cast the race as a battle for the soul of the country.
More than a third of those eligible cast their ballots in early voting on Thursday and Friday, according to the election commission.
Overseas voting reached a record high, with nearly four-fifths of the 1.97 million eligible voters casting their ballots last week.
Experts say that regardless of who wins, South Korea’s polarization is likely to deepen.
If Lee wins, the conservatives “will do whatever it takes to undermine him and his government, whether their logic makes sense or not,” political analyst Park Sang-byung told AFP.
“Unless the PPP distances itself from Yoon’s extremist base, it could turn to misinformation — such as unfounded claims of election fraud — to mobilize the right against Lee. That’s a troubling prospect,” he said.
Whoever succeeds Yoon will also have to grapple with a worsening economic downturn, one of the world’s lowest birth rates, the soaring cost of living and bellicose neighbor North Korea.
He will also have to navigate a mounting superpower standoff between the United States, South Korea’s traditional security guarantor, and China, its largest trade partner.
