North Korea plans new torpedo deployment next year in naval push

Soo-Hyang Choi, Bloomberg News on Nov 9, 2026

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SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said it has tested a new high-speed torpedo that it plans to deploy early next year, extending a recent run of weapons tests ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned Asia trip next week.

The test, conducted Monday, verified the combat effectiveness of the new weapon system, the official Korean Central News Agency said. The new system will be deployed by the Navy starting next year, it added, without giving further details.

Pyongyang has stepped up weapons testing in recent weeks as Trump prepares to travel to China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen next week.

The navy, in particular, has been a focus of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s efforts to bolster the country’s military capabilities, part of a broader push to modernize a fleet that has historically consisted largely of smaller vessels geared toward coastal defense.

Kim said in September he would implement plans to strengthen the navy and vowed to prove that to the world in eight months, without specifying what would be unveiled.

KCNA said last month that North Korea had conducted an underwater test-fire of a new “super-speed precisely guided” torpedo system, following “more than 180 rounds of different tests over the past five years.”