North Korea leader Kim Jong Un has inspected a newly built submarine and ordered officials to further bolster the country's military capability, state media reported Tuesday, as the North is increasing its pressure on the United States ahead of the possible resumption of nuclear diplomacy.
Last week, North Korea said it may lift its 20-month suspension of nuclear and missile tests to protest expected military drills between the United States and South Korea that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.
The Korean Central News Agency reported Kim expressed "great satisfaction" with the submarine after learning about its operational and tactical data and weapon systems.
Kim "stressed the need to steadily and reliably increase the national defense capability by directing big efforts to the development of the naval weapons and equipment such as submarine," according to KCNA.
KCNA didn't say exactly when and where Kim's inspection of the submarine occurred. It said the submarine's operational deployment "is near at hand."