“North Korea, registered 13 submarines under IMO and withdrew the registration on the same day.”

A stamp issued by North Korea’s Chosun Stamp Company reflects the launch of a tactical nuclear-armed submarine that took place on September 6 last year. According to Voice of America on the 29th, North Korea registered 13 submarines with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on the 27th, only to withdraw the related information the next day. Submarines that were registered in the IMO Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GSIS) disappeared from the list the following day. Initially, a search for the unique identification numbers assigned to these 13 submarines in the GSIS resulted in a message saying ‘no such vessel.’ Other North Korean vessels, especially other military vessels previously registered by North Korea, are still listed. North Korea registered a total of 13 submarines, including the Shark-class 1 to 11 and the Sinpo-class Hero Ship No. 8·24 and the Sinpo C-class Kim Goon-ok Hero Ship. Among them, the 11 Shark-class submarines are small submarines operated along the Korean Peninsula’s coast. It is known that North Korea reported that Shark-class 1-3 were built in 2004, 4-7 in 2005, and 8-11 in 2006. However, these were modifications of existing submarines, and their actual construction years are known to be in the 1990s. Voice of America analyzed that ship registration is a decision by IMO member states, and there is a possibility that North Korea might have been involved in deleting the submarine registration. Neil Watts, a former member of the expert panel of the UN Security Council’s North Korea Sanctions Committee, stated, “The management of the North Korean Embassy in London possesses the new ship list provided to the IMO” and “This management may have made a mistake in registering submarines with IMO. It is common to keep submarine ownership information secret from the enemy.”