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.
8th September 2023 10:26 AM 
State Media said on Friday that North Korea launched its first operational "tactical nuclear attack submarine" and assigned it to the fleet that patrols the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan,
North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un, said at the launch ceremony on Wednesday, that submarine No. 841, named Hero Kim Kun Ok after a North Korean historical figure, would be one of the main "underwater offensive means of the naval force."
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.
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.
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.
