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Korea Utara Menawarkan Pengembangan Bersama Kapal Selam Mini ?

16 Mei 2012

Tipe kapal selam yang dioperasikan oleh Korea Utara (image :covertshores)

Anggota DPR Apresiasi Langkah Presiden Yudhoyono

Jakarta ( Berita ) : Anggota Komisi I DPR RI Muhammad Najib mengapresiasi langkah Presiden Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) yang mengundang Presiden Korea Utara (Korut) Kim Yong Namberkunjung ke

Indonesia

. ”Langkah Presiden Yudhoyono menunjukkan Indonesia menggunakan prinsip politik bebas aktif,” kata Muhammad Najib di Gedung MPR/DPR/DPD RI, Jakarta, Selasa [15/05] .

Muhammad Najib mengatakan hal itu menyikapi kunjungan Presiden Korea Utara Kim Yong Namdan sejumlah menterinya ke Indonesia, pada 13-16 Mei 2012. Presiden Korea Utara dan rombongan dijadwalkan akan bertemu dengan pimpinan MPR RIdan pimpinan DPR RI pada Selasa sore.

Menurut dia, Korea Utara saat ini sedang mendapat tekanan dan ancaman dari negara lain yang lebih kuat karena mengembangkan nuklir untuk tujuan militer. Politisi Partai Amanat Nasional (PAN) itu menilai langkah Presiden Yudhoyono mengundang Presiden Korea Utara adalah langkah positif. “Indonesia tidak perlu terpengaruh dengan negara lain dalam membangun komunikasi dan kerja sama dengan Korea Utara, meskipun negara komunis tersebut dipandang oleh negara lain sebagai ancaman,” katanya.

Menurut dia, Indonesiamestinya dapat mengambil manfaat sebesar-besarnya dari hubungan baik yang terjalin selama ini, baik dengan Korea Selatan maupun dengan Korea Utara.

Najib menambahkan, sebelumnya Korea Utara telah menawarkan kerja sama dengan Indonesiauntuk pengembangan kapal selam mini. “Saya kira kapal selam mini ini sangat cocok untuk geografi Indonesia. Namun tawaran itu sepertinya belum mendapat respons dari pemerintah Indonesia,” ujarnya.

Jika menyimak kilas balik situasi Indonesia, menurut dia, Presiden Soekarno pada awal kemerdekaan langsung mencanangkan pengembangan nuklir untuk tujuan damai. Namun realitasnya, kata dia, pengembangan nuklir di Indonesia kini sudah tertinggal sangat jauh dengan yang dilakukan Korea Selatan dan Korea Utara. “Padahal, kedua negara Koreaitu baru mulai mengembangkan nuklir pada tahun 1970-an,” katanya.

Najib menjelaskan, pengembangan nuklir di Korea Utara, industri nuklir di negara tersebut kini mampu membuat senjata dengan nuklir dengan jangkauan antar-benua sehingga ditakuti negara-negara lain,” katanya.

(Berita Sore)

Experts Doubt North Korea’s Rocket Upgrade

27 Februari 2012

North Korea's M-1991 multiple launch rocket system (photo : Korea Times)

Military experts and insiders downplayed Monday media reports that North Korea has succeeded in doubling the range of its 240-millimeter multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) in time to celebrate the centennial of the nation’s founder Kim Il-sung’s birth in April.

They said it was nonsense to believe that the impoverished North has made significant progress in the development of a propulsion system that doubles the range of the rockets.

Citing an anonymous government source, media outlets, including Yonhap News Agency, claimed that the communist North recently completed upgrading its model of the 22-round M-1991, a truck-mounted MLRS.

They argued that the South’s entire capital area, home to more than 20 million people, will come under the range of the modified rocket, dubbed “Juche 100 Gun,” as it is capable of travelling more than 120 kilometers.

A senior rocket expert at the Defense Acquisition and Program Administration (DAPA) said the media reports were baseless unless the North has successfully developed a propulsion system that is a quantum leap ahead of advanced countries, including the United States and Russia.

“I’m highly skeptical that the North has technology that even the United States has yet to develop and the world has yet to witness,” he said.

“The range of the South’s 227-millimeter multiple launch rocket system is limited to 45 to 46 kilometers, despite the fact that it has employed the advanced technology of the United States.”

The expert said the range may be doubled if nearly all of the rocket’s explosives are removed to add more fuel. However, then not only the weapon’s accuracy, but its impact too would drop radically.

A senior missile expert at the Ministry of National Defense (MND) also downplayed media reports, saying military intelligence authorities have yet to recognize any noticeable improvement in the North’s 240-millimeter M-1991 rockets.

“If the North has already deployed such a long range rocket as reported, intelligence sources would have spotted it much earlier during the testing of such weapons,” he said.

An intelligence official at the MND concurred with him, saying no intelligence has been received on a major breakthrough in the improvement of the communist nation’s MLRS.

“I’m not sure how the news was generated. It is doubtful that the North has succeeded in doubling the range of a rocket,” he said.

“The North might have intentionally tipped off sources to such misleading information in an attempt to exaggerate its military might without actually having to prove it.”

He said the Pyongyang might have been pressured to do so to dodge criticism of failing to fulfill its pledge of becoming a “powerful and prosperous nation” by 2012.

Officials of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) declined to comment on the matter, saying they are not allowed to provide any explanation to North Korean weapons development.

The North is known to have been operating two types of 240-millimeter rocket launchers, the 12-round M-1985 and the 22-round M-1991.

According to media reports, intelligence officials here believe the Stalinist state will likely unveil an upgraded version of the M-1991 to the public during a massive military parade on April 15 this year, the 100th birthday of the late Kim.

(Korea Times)

North Korea Tests New Submarine in Naval Drills

06 April 2011

North Korea's 40m long Sango class submarine (photo : Yonhap)

SEOUL, (Yonhap) -- North Korea has strengthened the intensity of its naval drills this year by deploying a new submarine, prompting South Korea's military to raise its level of vigilance, a government source here said Wednesday.

"North Korea is on naval maneuvers near its bases off the East Sea and Yellow Sea by mobilizing five to six submarines, including a new Sango class submarine," the source said on the condition of anonymity.

"Our military is closely monitoring activities of the North Korean military because it is unusual for the North to strengthen the intensity of its submarine drills," the source said.

In addition to its rudimentary 35-meter-long Sango class submarines, the North recently put the new 40-meter-long Sango submarines into service, according to the source.

On Tuesday, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told lawmakers that his military is carefully watching the eastern and western sea borders with North Korea as the North's armed forces have staged seaborne infiltration drills.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula remain high following the North's two deadly military attacks last year, which killed a total of 50 South Koreans.

The South's military bolstered firepower and surveillance systems near the sea borders with North Korea to counter any possible attacks from the North.

(Yonhap)

North’s New Midget Subs are Torpedo Equipped

07 Desember 2010

Daedong midget submarine (photo : Brahmand)

North Korea’s new midget submarines feature torpedo launch tubes, according to South Korean intelligence sources, suggesting that the North is planning more torpedo strikes.

According to sources, satellite imagery examined by South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials have shown 4-meter-long (13.1 feet) torpedo launch tubes attached to North Korea’s new line of “Daedong-B” minisubmarines. Intelligence authorities from both countries had suspected that satellite images showed launch tubes attached to the submersibles. An intelligence tip later confirmed that they were for lightweight torpedoes.

The Daedong-B model is said to be 17 meters long, 4 meters wide and 2.2 meters high. One special characteristic of the midget submarine, intelligence sources said, is the rear of the vessel, which is shaped like a ramp to easily enable agents to get on and off.

North Korea has also been holding exercises with the new submarines.

“Intense military exercises with the midget submarines were conducted by North Korea in July and recently while South Korean and U.S. troops were holding joint exercises,” a South Korean intelligence official said, adding that the drills were aimed against South Korean vessels.

Based on the evidence, intelligence authorities believe North Korea is now capable of carrying out attacks with its minisubmarines, along with its Yono class submersibles, which the South Korean government believes the North used to sink the Cheonan in March.

North Korea has not made any direct threats to attack the South with its torpedoes since March, which it did on a regular basis before the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan.

However, North Korea’s preference for torpedoes is well-known, and they have been the weapons of choice for Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong-il.

In April 2007, North Korea’s state broadcaster Korean Central Television (KCTV) showed Kim Jong-il instructing marines in a military drill involving torpedoes. The “Dear Leader” was reported to have “laughed with vigor” and immensely approved the torpedo training. Kim was said to have mounted a torpedo-equipped submarine himself and “went out to the wild seas” with the seamen.

North Korean propaganda claims that its torpedo boats sunk the U.S.S. Baltimore in 1950, although the U.S. battleship was never deployed in the Korean War. On the day cited by North Korea for the attack, the U.S.S. Juneau and two British warships destroyed several North Korean torpedo boats escorting supply vessels without any significant return fire from the North Koreans.

(Joong Ang Daily)

North Korean Media Unveils New Main Battle Tank

18 Agustus 2010

This is a new tank that North Korea has made by improving the former Soviet Union-made T-62 tank. The North's Korean Central Broadcasting Stati (all photos : Yonhap)

SEOUL, (Yonhap) -- A North Korean TV station recently aired rare footage of the communist regime's new main battle tank, coming under close scrutiny by South Korea's intelligence agency, an intelligence official said Tuesday.

The North's new tank, named "Pokpung-ho," was believed to have been developed in the 1990s based on the Soviet Union's T-72 tanks and underwent performance trials in 2002, according to South Korean defense ministry officials.

No photographs of the North Korean tank previously existed in public circulation, but the North's Korean Central TV Station recently broadcast the footage of the Pokpung-ho, which means "Storm Tiger" in Korean, the intelligence official said.

"We are analyzing the footage of the Pokpung-ho aired by the North's Korean Central TV Station," the intelligence official said on the condition of anonymity. The official didn't say exactly when the North aired the footage.

The new tank showed higher performance in terms of firepower and maneuverability than the North's previous main battle tank called "Chonma-ho," said the official, citing the footage.

The North's new tank is believed to be equipped with either a 125mm or 115mm main gun, similar to that of the T-90 main battle tank of the Russian Army, according to the South's defense ministry officials.

The number of deployed tanks is unknown, but only one North Korean tank unit is believed to possess the advanced tanks, ministry officials said.

The two Koreas are still technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

(Yonhap)