North Korea might be building a submarine capable of launching a nuclear ballistic missile, according to satellite images, NBC News reported.
"Images suggest North Korea is making real progress in developing a second leg of the nuclear triad, bringing them closer to a survivable nuclear force," according to Beyond Parallel researchers Joseph Bermudez and Victor Cha, funded by Washington-based think-tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"The construction and commissioning of a true SSB (ballistic missile submarine) capability would represent a significant advancement of the North Korean ballistic missile and nuclear threat and complicate defense planning in the region, given the difficulties of tracking and/or pre-emptively targeting such capabilities."
A test of a submarine-launched missile is being prepped and might take a year to be operational, analysts say, adding "there is no conclusive evidence at the moment that this is a near-term certainty."
North Korean state media reported Monday that Kim Jong Un has inspected a "newly built submarine," and satellite photos of Sinpo South Shipyard taken Monday appear to confirm reports, showing support vessels and a crane designed to tow a sub out to sea, per NBC news.
There were no photos of the submarine, but they do represent "substantial circumstantial evidence," analysts say, per the report.
The news comes as President Donald Trump weighs future denuclearization talks with Kim's regime in exchange for easing or erasing a maximum economic sanctions campaign.