Nuclear submarine arms race heats up between North and South Korea

Nuclear submarine arms race heats up between North and South Korea In this undated photo provided Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un inspects a nuclear-powered submarine under construction at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. AP/KCNA via KNS hide caption toggle caption SEOUL, South Korea - An arms race for nuclear-powered submarines is accelerating between North and South Korea amid shifts in the United States' security strategy in the region. North Korea's state media revealed on Thursday a picture of what it called a "8,700-ton nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine." It's the first time North Korea disclosed the tonnage and the apparently completed hull of the submarine since it declared its pursuit for nuclear subs in 2021. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that the new vessel will help defend his country against "the negative security situation that has come as present reality," according to the country's state media. Kim criticized South Korea's plan to build its own nuclear subs as "an offensive act ... that must be countered." South Korea has moved quickly to build its own nuclear subs, since receiving President Trump's approval in October. A pan-government task force launched last week in Seoul, while the country's national security adviser Wi Sung-lac said South Korea will work on a pact for the U.S. to supply it with military-use nuclear fuel. The green light for South Korea's underwater ambitions came as the U.S. pushes its allies to shoulder more of their own security burden and spend more to beef up defense capabilities. South Korea has sought to build nuclear subs for decades against North Korea's nuclear threats, which quickly expanded to the maritime sphere in recent years. In addition to making the nuclear-powered submarine, it has tested submarine-launched nuclear missiles and claimed to have developed a nuclear-capable torpedo. South Korea's defense minister, Ahn Gyu-back, said in October that conventional, diesel-powered subs "can't compete with nuclear subs North Korea is building in underwater endurance and speed." U.S. expects subs to help counter China The U.S. expects future South Korean nuclear subs to do more in the region than countering North Korea. Admiral Daryl Caudle, the chief of naval operations of the U.S. Navy, said during his visit in Seoul in November that it's "a natural expectation" that they be used "to meet our combined goals on what the United States considers to be our pacing threat, which is China." In this undated photo provided Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, third left, visits a shipyard as he inspects a nuclear-powered submarine under construction at an undisclosed location in North Korea....

Preview: ~500 words