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‘North’s new submarine spotted through satellite`

Posted October. 21, 2014 03:13,   

한국어

A source in the U.S. claims that an unidentified new submarine has been spotted at a submarine dockyard in Sinpo, South Hamkyong Province in North Korea through satellite images.

In an op-ed piece on Sunday (U.S. time) to "38 North," a website dedicated to North Korea run by the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Joseph Bermudez Jr., Chief Analytics Officer of U.S.-based AllSource Analysis, said that the finding were confirmed through deciphering of commercial satellite imagery of North Korean submarine bases and dockyards from 2010 to August this year.

“A review of commercial satellite imagery from 2010 until the present covering North Korea’s submarine bases and building shipyards has revealed the presence of a previously unidentified submarine moored in the secured boat basin at the Sinpo South Shipyard. This shipyard, also known by the cover designation `Pongdae Boiler Plant,` is the primary manufacturing facility for North Korea’s submarines and the headquarters of the Maritime Research Institute of the Academy of the National Defense Science," Bermudez said.

Satellite imagery analysis revealed that the submarine measures 67 meters long and 6.6 meters wide, and has a round-shaped bow and an observation tower at the center of the vessel, according to Bermudez. He said the vessel’s underwater displacement is estimated at 900 tons to 1,500 tons, but a torpedo or a missile tube has not been discovered on the bow or deck. “The origins of this submarine are unclear... the boat bears a superficial resemblance to the Russian kilo or lada class patrol submarines," he said.