February 13, 2026: Last year, after two months of effort, North Korea managed to salvage the Kang Kon, its second Choe Hyon-class DDGHM destroyer. The destroyer was declared operational on June 5th. The Kang Kon capsized while being launched. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was furious at the embarrassing incident and his terrified subordinates rushed to get the Kang Kon operational. While the Kang Kon was again ready for service, there were doubts. There was no indication that internal damage from the accident had been repaired. A lot of salt water got into the ship and that ruined a lot of essential equipment. Until the Kang Kon is observed at sea actually using its weapons and equipment, there will be doubts.

The Aang Kon is the second of two Choe Hyon-class destroyers. These 5,000-ton warships are the largest surface warships North Korea ever put into service. North Korea says it will build two more in the coming years. These 144 meter long vessels are the first to be equipped with a phased array radar and vertical launching system/VLS for storing and launching missiles from ships. The U.S Navy invented VLS in 1986 and currently has over 8,000 VLS cells deployed on surface warships and submarines. There are a total of more than 11,000 VLS cells in use worldwide. Nearly all are on ships of American allies. Russia, China and North Korea use a similar system.

North Korea is trying to upgrade its navy. This includes replacing 76 submarines from the 1960s and 80s with a dozen or more Chinese models, some of which can be equipped with ballistic missiles. North Korea is building these Type 33 submarines with some Chinese components. North Korea is also building a nuclear-powered submarine carrying ballistic missiles. This will not be successful unless they get more technical help from Russia or China. Equipping subs with nuclear power is very difficult and both China and Russia took decades to get it right.

The rest of the North Korean navy consists of ten elderly frigates and corvettes. Another one of these was converted into a mine sweeper. The remainder of the fleet consists of about a hundred patrol and missile boats, most of them built in the 1970s and 80s. Few are currently seaworthy. Similar situation with over 2,000 amphibious ships and boats.

At the same time South Korea is building nuclear subs with the help of the United States. Currently the South Korean navy has thirteen destroyers, 17 frigates, three corvettes and 34 patrol boats. There are also 22 submarines and 21 amphibious warfare ships. The frigates and submarines are the first line of defense along South Korean coasts. The patrol boats patrol and report what they encounter. It’s up to the larger warships to deal with any threat. The most prominent ships defending the coasts are the frigates. The destroyers and larger submarines operate much farther from Korea.

South Korea has become the seventh nation to use Sea Launched Ballistic Missiles or SLBMs. The second version of the KSS-III submarines feature a number of firsts. They were non-nuclear, the first non-nuclear submarines that not only use Air Independent Propulsion or AIP but do so using lithium ion instead of lead-acid batteries. With this AIP system the KSS-III submarines can operate submerged for about three weeks. These subs also have ten Vertical Launch Cells or VLS filled by Hyunmoo 4-4 SLBMs with a range of 800 kilometers. North Korea is developing similar technology, but the north can only manage to build crude imitations of what the South Korean created. South Korea is far wealthier and technically advanced than the north. Both Koreas produce weapons that work often enough to do some damage and kill people. The South Korean weapons do this more reliably and effectively. North Korea is content to be able to say, “We have that too.”

South Korea joins six other nations, the United States, Russia, France, Britain, China, and India that also have SLBMs and submarines to launch them from. The United States was the first nation to develop SLBMs and install them in nuclear powered submarines. The South Korean SLBMs have conventional warheads and are launched from non-nuclear submarines. South Korea is developing nuclear weapons, after not doing so for many years to appease the United States.