Report: US believes North Korean sub is missing
Regime's navy conducting searches off country's east coast after apparently losing contact with vessel
The North Korean navy has for the past several days been searching for a missing submarine after contact with the vessel was lost earlier this week, US officials told CNN on Friday.
According to the officials, the submarine was under US surveillance and operating near the country’s east coast when it went missing.
The US is still unsure if the missing sub has sunk or suffered technical failures, the officials told CNN.
Last week, the Pentagon downplayed the risk from North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, after Kim Jong Un said the country’s nuclear weapons must be ready for preemptive use at “anytime.”
The United States has extensive ballistic missile defense systems and constantly monitors North Korea.
Kim was quoted Friday (local time) by the official KCNA news agency as saying: “We must always be ready to fire our nuclear warheads at any time.”
Kim also warned that the situation on the divided Korean peninsula had become so dangerous that the North needed to shift its military strategy to one of “preemptive attack.”
Such bellicose rhetoric is almost routine for North Korea at times of elevated tensions.
The United Nations has adopted its toughest sanctions to date on Pyongyang over a recent nuclear test and rocket launch.
A senior official from President Barack Obama’s administration called for calm.
“We urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric that aggravate tensions and instead focus on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments,” the official said late last Thursday.