Interesting Article on the Golfs.

I stumbled upon this article at the Sino Defense Forum(www.sinodefence.com). It gives a great explaination about North Korea's ambitions for an SLBM and sheds some light on the Golf situation.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)--that is, North Korea--is now producing a second-generation long-range ballistic missile based on Russian technologies that poses a significantly increased threat to the United States and Japan. Armed with nuclear or chemical warheads, the missile can be hidden in silo bases and launched from merchant ships or even submarines. It is reportedly being tested in Iran. It is not unreasonable to expect that Pyongyang might well sell it and its technologies to other rogue states, possibly even to terrorist groups.

Certainly the weapon makes a mockery of former President Clinton’s attempts to bribe Pyongyang from developing missiles and underscores the unreality of basing American security on any future North Korean promises. It emphasizes the need for the United States to press ahead with missile defense and counterproliferation efforts, especially North Korean. The missile also raises.......

Continue at http://http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.3/pub_detail.asp

North Korean Missile Test

South Korea is not commenting on North Korea's reported launch of two short-range missiles this week. South Korean media reports cite anonymous officials who confirm the launch took place, but say it was part of ordinary drills.
The South Korean government kept quiet Thursday about media reports of a North Korean missile launch this week.
South Korean media quote unnamed officials as saying North Korea launched two short-range missiles Wednesday morning local time near its border with China. It is not clear if the launch was a test or a mistake.
South Korea - which has a policy of engaging the communist North as a way to better relations - is hesitant to publicly criticize Pyongyang.
But the reports drew a quick response from Washington. U.S. State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said the reported launches are a source of concern.
"North Korea's missile program and activities are a threat, not only to the region, but the international community at large," he said. "We are working with our friends and allies in the region on deployment of active missile defenses."
North Korea test-fired a long-range missile over Japan in 1998 - alarming the international community. But Pyongyang has not conducted any medium- and long-range missile tests since. North Korea is also believed to be one of the world's largest exporters of missile technology.
In U.S. Senate testimony this week, the Commander of U.S. Forces in Korea, General Burwell Bell, warned North Korea has 200 mid-range missiles capable of reaching Japan. He said Pyongyang might have long-range missiles capable of reaching the continental U.S. within the decade.
The timing or purpose of this week's reported North Korean launch is not clear.
But Kim Tae-woo - an analyst at Seoul's Korea Institute for Defense Analyses - says it was probably just part of regularly scheduled short-range missile drills.
"Even North Koreans themselves will believe that [this] is a minor thing and nobody will think it serious," said Kim. "If North Korea tested a large-size [long range] missile, that could be interpreted differently."
Kim says he and his colleagues are more concerned about newly emerging reports that North Korea may be selling long-range missile technology to Iran - which is also embroiled in a dispute with the international community over its nuclear programs.
"That development could be really serious," added Kim. "That could prompt a response from the U.S. If that is true, it is a really serious development."
This week's reported launch comes within 24 hours of Pyongyang's latest announcement that it will not return to multinational talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programs. Three years of negotiations have not produced any progress on the issue.
North Korea says it has nuclear weapons, but has never conducted a nuclear test. U.S. intelligence officials have expressed doubt Pyongyang has the technology to mount a nuclear device on a missile and fire it accurately. However, they fear North Korea may export nuclear and missile materials and technology to nations or groups hostile to the United States.

From Global Security.org

Golfs?

There was a report from Global Security.org that said that North Korea might possibly possess a Golf-class SSK, who's missile tubes are still activated. The Foxtrot can carry two of the famous, but inaccurate, SCUDs. Here it is:

In January 1994 Russia signed a deal with North Korea to sell a total of 12 [initially reported as 10] Foxtrot-class (Project 641) conventional attack submarines and Golf II-class (Project 629) ballistic missile submarines. The basic design of the Golf submarine is based on the 641 Foxtrot, and the Foxtrot's electromechanical installation for surface and underwater navigation, the hydroacoustic system, the radar facilities and the radio communication systems were incorporated into the Golf without change.
The deal had been arranged by the Japanese trading company Toen Shioji. The submarines had been decommissioned from the Russian Navy in 1990. The Russian Navy insisted that the submarine's missile launch tubes were inactivated under Russian military observation.
In February 1994 pressure from the international community led Russia to halted the delivery of these submarines to North Korea. In April 2004 the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry [MITI] ask Russia send a special representative to North Korea to monitor the scrapping of the submarines.
As of May 1994 only one has been delivered to North Korea, by which time the issue faded from the headlines. At that time there were still conflicting reports as to whether the weapon systems had been removed from the submarines. It was not clear when North Korea took possession of all the submarines, though the deal seems to have been completed by the late 1990s.
The 12 submarines in question were reportedly rust-eaten and semi-submerged. But the submarines still had significant elements of missile system, including launch tubes and stabilization sub-systems. North Korea could nonetheless cannibalize the submarines for parts and insights to improve its own submarine and missile launch technology.
The the SS-N-4 Sark was the first Soviet submarine launched ballistic missile SLBM, a Scud-derivative originally deployed on the Golf submarines. At 15.5 meters in length, the Nodong-1 is one meter longer than the SS-N-4, and would not fit in an unmodified Golf launch tube. The modification may be a shortening of the missile, which would also shorten the range of the missile. It is not unreasonable to assume that North Korea may have had access to SLBM technology as the precursor to the SS-N-4, the R-11FM, was transferred to China in December 1959. China still uses the Golf-class submarine as an SLBM training and test platform. Additionally, it should be noted that the Russian scientists recruited in late 1992 were from the Makeyev Design Bureau, which is responsible for the design of all modern Russian SLBMs.
As of 2004 there were no reports of either Foxtrot or Golf submarines in North Korean service.

http://http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/s-golf.htm