President Lee Jae-myung boarded the Navy's strategic submarine Sin Chae-ho at the Submarine Command in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday, encouraging the crew and urging them to "protect the Republic of Korea's seas." The move is seen as highlighting the underwater kill-chain capability currently carried by conventional strategic submarines, while demonstrating a commitment to strengthening self-reliant national defense by extending this capability to nuclear-powered submarines in the future.
Kang Yu-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, said in a written briefing that the president visited the Navy Submarine Command in Changwon and boarded the Sin Chae-ho. After being briefed by the captain on the submarine's status and operational situation in the combat command room, the president toured the submarine's interior, including the crew's living quarters and the engine control room, inspecting the working environment and operational readiness.
"Nuclear submarines will become a core force of the Republic of Korea's self-reliant national defense and lead to world-class security capabilities," the president said, highlighting the military significance of nuclear submarines. He also urged the Navy, saying, "The crew members are the very protagonists who will actually operate this core force," and "Please build up human capabilities so that you can be deployed to the field immediately once nuclear submarines are equipped."
According to military authorities, the Sin Chae-ho is regarded as a core force of the "underwater kill-chain," capable of covertly conducting a preemptive strike on North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities from underwater in a contingency. The Sin Chae-ho is a 3,000-ton strategic submarine with a hull length of 83.5 meters, independently designed and built domestically by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. Delivered to the Navy in April 2024 and brought into operational service, it forms a three-vessel system of 3,000-ton strategic submarines operating submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), along with the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho and the Ahn Mu.
The Sin Chae-ho is capable of weeks-long covert submerged operations based on its air-independent propulsion (AIP) system and low-noise design. It also carries six SLBMs in vertical launch tubes, known to be of the Hyunmoo-4-4 series with a range of several hundred kilometers, and is assessed to possess strategic strike capability targeting North Korea's nuclear and missile command and underground facilities.
With both long-duration covert submersion capability and SLBM operational capability, the Sin Chae-ho has established itself as a central pillar of the South Korean Navy's underwater kill-chain force. It is assessed that it will continue to serve as the "flagship force" of the South Korean Navy's underwater deterrence until nuclear submarines are brought into operational service in the future.
