South Korea raises warfare capability with new submarine

While power shortage is becoming a growing concern in the country, South Korea launched a 1,800-tonne submarine Tuesday in a bid to strengthen its underwater warfare capabilities.

In a ceremony attended by President Park Geun-hye, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and other senior military officials, South Korean Navy launched its fourth 1,800-tonne, 214-type submarine, Xinhua reported.

The submarine has been named after Kim Jwa-jin, the country's famous general of independent forces during the period of the Japanese colonial rule of South Korea. He had led the Cheongsan-ri battle to beat 3,300 Japanese soldiers, the largest victory of the South Korean independent movement.

"Submarine Kim Jwa-jin will contribute much to upholding our maritime sovereignty," the South Korean president said. "Under the reality of sharp conflicts between national interests, it should be necessary to protect our waters and our national interests in the waters."

The submersible can strike 300 targets simultaneously, and operate various missions such as anti-ship, anti-air and anti- submarine warfare as well as ship-to-land precision strikes with cruise missiles. The diesel-powered submarine can make a round voyage from Seoul to Hawaii without any refuelling.

It can also perform underwater missions for two weeks without any need to come up from the waters.

The submersible is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in the second half of 2014 after the assessment period, and will be deployed in 2015 for naval operations.

Meanwhile, the South Korean government earlier warned of serious power shortages this week amid an expected rise in summer temperatures. The resources-starved nation is struggling to cope up with the demand after its six nuclear plants went off-line.