 |
| The Republic of Korea Navy's first 3,000-ton submarine made with local technology, the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho, docked at the Okpo Shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) on Geoje Island in South Gyeongsang Province, Friday, during the commissioning ceremony. It is capable of firing submarine-launched ballistic missiles with its vertical launching systems. Courtesy of the Republic of Korea Navy |
Navy's first SLBM submarine shows technologies comparable to those of advanced countries
By Jung Da-min
South Korea has now become a country that operates locally-built submarines capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). This could create the basis for the development of nuclear-powered submarines, defense watchers said Sunday.
On Friday, the Navy received the country's first 3,000-ton submarine, reportedly equipped with six vertical launch tubes. The commissioning ceremony of the diesel air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarine, the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho ― named after a prominent independence fighter who led education reform and modernization movements during the Japanese colonial occupation ― took place at the Okpo Shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) on Geoje Island in South Gyeongsang Province.
The submarine is the first developed under the Navy's Changbogo-III (KSS-III) Batch-I construction project for 3,000-ton submarines. It was launched in September 2018, commissioned on Aug. 13th, 2021 and it is expected to enter service in August 2022, after a yearlong evaluation.
Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said that although the submarine is diesel-powered, its successful development and high proportion of locally made component parts proved that South Korea has created a basis for building 4,000-ton or 5,000-ton nuclear-powered submarines in the near future.
 |
| A graphic of the Republic of Korea Navy's first 3,000-ton submarine made with local technology, the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho / Courtesy of the Republic of Korea Navy |
"Although it is a 3,000-ton diesel powered submarine, it is designed to carry six SLBMs. If the country succeeds in launching an SLBM from a submarine, it will become a country that possesses SLBM submarines," Shin said. South Korea has succeeded in the underwater test-launching of mockup missiles, according to media reports in July citing military officials.
"Even with conventional warheads, if submarines can be equipped with larger SLBMs, they will be considered weapons of high valuedue to their destructive power."
The 83.5-meter-long, 9.6-meter-wide submarine can carry 50 crewmembers and can operate underwater for about three weeks without surfacing, with its AIP system, military officials said. The Navy said that 76 percent of its component parts were locally made, helping the military cut costs by lowering its dependence on technologies produced abroad.
But Shin said that there still remain questions over whether the 3,000-ton diesel submarines could be strategic weapons for the country when they are not nuclear-powered and not permitted to deploy nuclear weapons, as South Korea is bound to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Shin said that he believes South Korea's submarine technologies are comparable to those of advanced countries.
News of South Korea's submarine manufacturing advances comes as North Korea is believed to have completed the construction of a 3,000-ton submarine, which the North is said to have unveiled in July 2019.
![[INTERVIEW] Actor Ko Kyoung-pyo explains why he doesn't obsess over lead roles](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/f5f874a205d34561aeaad3874b18bf72.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
