Reuters Staff
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Satellite images taken this month of a
North Korean naval shipyard indicate Pyongyang is pursuing an “aggressive
schedule” to build its first operational ballistic missile submarine, a U.S.
institute reported on Thursday.
A passenger walks past a TV screen at a railway station in
Seoul, South Korea, broadcasting a news report on North Korea's
submarine-launched ballistic missile fired from North Korea's east coast port
of Sinpo July 9, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Files
Washington-based 38
North, a North Korea monitoring project, cited images taken on Nov. 5 showing
activity at North Korea’s Sinpo South Shipyard.
“The presence of
what appear to be sections of a submarine’s pressure hull in the yards suggests
construction of a new submarine, possibly the SINPO-C ballistic missile
submarine - the follow-on to the current SINPO-class experimental ballistic
missile submarine,” 38 North said in a report.
The report said
that throughout 2017 there had been continued movement of parts and components
into and out of two parts yards adjacent to the constructions halls in the
center of the shipyard.
It said the Nov. 5
images showed two large circular objects that could be sections of a
submarine’s pressure hull. It said these appeared larger than those for North
Korea’s ROMEO-class attack submarine.
Images of a test
stand indicated continued testing of a mechanism for ejection launch of
missiles from a submarine. However, the report said no activity could be seen
suggesting preparations for a new test of a submarine-launched missile.
North Korea has
been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United
States, sparking a major international crisis in which U.S. President Donald
Trump has said that all options are under consideration, including military
ones.
North Korea is also
thought to be working on a solid-fuel missile for submarine launches.
Last month, The
Diplomat magazine quoted a U.S. government source as saying U.S. military
intelligence had detected a new diesel-electric submarine under construction at
Sinpo and dubbed it the Sinpo-C. It said the submarine was likely a larger
successor to North Korea’s single experimental ballistic missile submarine.
North Korea has
conducted dozens of missile tests this year and its largest and biggest nuclear
test on Sept. 3. The past two months have seen a relative lull and it has not
tested a missile since firing one over Japan on Sept. 15.
Another article in
The Diplomat last month quoted a U.S. government source as saying that North
Korea had tested a new solid fuel engine sometime between Oct. 15 and Oct. 21.
U.S. intelligence officials have declined to comment on this.
Reporting by David
Brunnstrom; editing by Grant McCool
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
https://in.reuters.com/article/northkorea-missiles-submarine/images-suggest-north-korea-aggressive-work-on-ballistic-missile-submarine-institute-idINKBN1DH056
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