Nuclear security

Is North Korea's Nuclear Missile Sub Ready to Set Sail?

North Korea's nuclear ballistic missile submarine may be prepared to head out to sea. The deployment of the submarine would make the country's nuclear weapons more difficult to track while theoretically extending their range, possibly as far as the United States and beyond.

According to longtime North Korea watcher Joseph Bermudez at 38North, satellite imagery (above) provides circumstantial evidence that the submarine and the floating barge used to test missiles have both recently gone to sea. Bermudez points to removal of camouflage netting over the submarine—likely meant to deter exactly this kind of analysis—and the presence of stacks of supplies next to the sub.