Overview
- North Korean state media released images of an 8,700-ton hull described as a nuclear-powered, missile-launching submarine that Kim Jong-un inspected at an indoor shipyard.
- KCNA said Kim supervised a test of a new high-altitude, long-range anti-air missile that reportedly hit a dummy target at about 200 kilometers.
- Kim directed an expansion and modernization of missile output for 2026, ordering new munitions factories to raise overall production capacity.
- Pyongyang framed the naval project as essential to strengthening its nuclear-armed fleet, while denouncing South Korea’s U.S.-approved nuclear-submarine plans as a threat.
- Independent experts called the imagery significant but cautioned that reactor installation and sea-readiness cannot be independently confirmed.