CaliToday (14/10/2025): South Korea's defense minister issued a stark warning on Monday, telling lawmakers that North Korea has likely received critical technical assistance from Russia to advance its ambitious and destabilizing submarine program.
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| South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Defense minister Ahn Gyu-back in Gyeryong, South Korea, October 1, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool |
The statement from Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back to the National Assembly's defense committee adds to growing international alarm over the deepening military partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang. North Korea has long pursued the development of submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles (SLBMs), a strategic capability that would significantly enhance its nuclear threat.
While Pyongyang has conducted tests from submerged platforms and barges, successfully launching a missile from a fully operational submarine has remained an elusive, yet critical, milestone. The isolated state is also actively pursuing the development of a nuclear-powered submarine, a far more complex and dangerous technology.
"It appears to be true that North Korea has received 'various technologies' for the development of submarines," Minister Ahn stated during the parliamentary hearing, offering a candid assessment of the burgeoning military axis.
However, Ahn tempered his remarks with a degree of caution, noting it was still "too early to conclude" that Pyongyang had successfully conducted a full SLBM test from an actual submarine. This distinction is crucial, as a proven submarine-launched capability would provide North Korea with a survivable "second-strike" nuclear deterrent, making its arsenal far more difficult to track and neutralize in a conflict.
The backdrop to this accusation is a dramatic escalation in military and strategic cooperation between Russia and North Korea over the past two years, according to South Korean intelligence assessments. This partnership is seen as a transactional relationship between two internationally isolated regimes.
Seoul believes that Pyongyang has deployed more than 10,000 troops to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine. In return for this significant military support, North Korea is allegedly receiving a substantial payment in the form of economic aid and, more alarmingly, the transfer of sophisticated military technology.
The potential for Russian expertise to accelerate North Korea's submarine and ballistic missile programs is a scenario that deeply worries officials in Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington. Russian assistance could help Pyongyang overcome key engineering and technical hurdles that have previously slowed its progress, potentially bringing a credible sea-based nuclear threat closer to reality far sooner than anticipated.
The minister's comments on Monday underscore the mounting anxiety in the region and serve as the most direct official accusation yet of a technology-for-troops arrangement that could dangerously alter the security landscape of the Korean Peninsula and beyond.