North Korea calls Japan’s nuclear-powered submarines a “dark intention” and a “stepping stone” to nuclear weapons

North Korea has accused Japan of seeking to acquire nuclear-powered submarines as a “stepping stone” towards possessing nuclear weapons. In an article by the state news agency KCNA on Thursday, October 15, “international security analyst” Pak Ju-won wrote: “The real intention of the Japanese neo-militarist force is to formalise the possession of nuclear-powered submarines and secure a stepping stone for possessing nuclear weapons in the long term.” The article was reported by South Korea’s Yonhap.

Pak argued that Japan has a “dark intention” to shape public opinion so that the nuclear issue is included in its security documents, which are due to be revised by the end of the year. He also wrote that Tokyo has thrown off “the veil of an ‘exclusively defence-oriented policy’” and that these moves are a “fundamental factor causing military imbalance and creating a new structure of fierce confrontation in the region”.

“It will bring disaster to the archipelago”

“Japan’s plan to acquire a nuclear-powered submarine, aimed at arming itself with nuclear weapons, will surely bring disaster to the archipelago,” the article concluded.

Pyongyang, which has itself carried out six nuclear tests and says its status as a nuclear state is “irreversible”, has also unveiled its own nuclear-powered submarine programme. The article made no mention of it, nor of Pyongyang’s cooperation with Russia, which Washington links to the transfer of missile and nuclear technology.

What Koizumi said

The reaction follows remarks by Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in late September that the government is keeping open the possibility of reviewing the country’s three non-nuclear principles and acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, issues that, he said, will be discussed “without taboos”. The three principles, in force since the 1960s, state that Japan does not possess, produce or allow the introduction of nuclear weapons on its territory.

Japan currently operates only conventional submarines, such as its new Taigei class with lithium-ion batteries. The debate over nuclear propulsion comes amid regional tension, after the crisis with China over the deployment of Japanese missiles near Taiwan.

The same day, a new US Congressional report estimated that North Korea has fissile material for up to 90 nuclear warheads, as covered in our report on the CRS assessment.