North Korean Submarine Threat Overstated, Arms Analysts Say

North Korea remains years away from being able to launch ballistic missiles from a submarine even as its leader Kim Jong Un seeks to expand the fleet’s range and firepower, weapons analysts said.

“If the North decides to pursue such a capability, it is likely to take years to design, develop, manufacture, and deploy an operational submarine-launched ballistic missile force,” Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., chief analytical officer at AllSource Analysis, wrote last week on 38 North, a blog run by the U.S.- Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

A North Korean submarine with working missile silos would mark a giant stride in Kim’s ability to threaten distant rivals, including the U.S., as his regime claims it can now make warheads small enough to be deployed on missiles.

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