North Korea recently revealed it was building a nuclear-powered submarine for the first time. However, experts believe Pyongyang faces overwhelming technical challenges that make its nuclear submarine ambitions nearly impossible.

The submarine could significantly escalate security concerns on the Korean peninsula and in the Taiwan Strait, experts say North Korea's construction of a nuclear-powered submarine could significantly escalate security concerns on the peninsula and in the Taiwan Strait,

North Korea has conducted a slew of underwater-launched ballistic missile tests since 2016, but all launches were made from the same 2,000-tonne-class submarine which has a single launch tube. Many experts call it a test platform, rather than an operational submarine in active service.

In a statement issued via state media on Monday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry called the Freedom Shield drills "a dangerous provocative act of leading the acute situation on the Korean peninsula, which may spark off a physical conflict between the two sides by means of an accidental single shot, to the extreme point."