North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said the US is his country's "biggest enemy"
and that he does not expect Washington to change its policy toward Pyongyang -
whoever is president.
Addressing a rare congress of his ruling Workers' Party, Mr Kim also pledged to expand
North Korea's nuclear weapons arsenal and military potential.
He said that plans for a nuclear submarine were almost complete.
Since North Korea claims to have developed a sub-launched missile, the
unit most probably will be a a 4 to 6 tube SSBN, a capability consistent
with what they need to project their threat potential. An SSN would not
serve that purpose.
Patrol area: most probably between NK and there Chinese mainland,
at least initially. I don't see them patrolling in the open Pacific to threaten
the US.
It may be time for a review of all that is known about acoustic detections
of submarine disasters.
Would not be surprised if they make use of first-generation Chinese SSBN
design and technology.