The Yono-class submarine (occasionally confused with
Yugo-class) is a class of
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
n miniature
submarines, produced for domestic use as well as for export. Also referred to as the Yeono class, these submarines displace 130 tons, significantly less than North Korea's larger 1,800-ton s.
[North Korea rebuffs South Korea's evidence on Cheonan attack](_blank)
Christian Science Monitor, 20 May 2010. As of May 2010, North Korea is reported to operate ten of these submarines.
Iran is reported to have at least one Yono submarine and to have copied the design as the
Ghadir-class.
Design
The Yono-class submarine was first created in 1965.
Combat involvement
A Yono-class submarine is thought to have fired the torpedo attack which sank a
South Korean , on 26 March 2010 in South Korean waters. According to some investigators, the weapon used in the attack was a North Korean-manufactured CHT-02D
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
, from which substantial propulsion parts were recovered. The device allegedly exploded not by contact, but by proximity below ''Cheonan'', creating a powerful pillar of water, called the
bubble jet effect.
High ranking North Korean military officials denounced the international investigation and said the North does not have the type of submarines that supposedly carried out the attack. They also dismissed claims regarding writings on the torpedo and clarified that "when we put serial numbers on weapons, we engrave them with machines." South Korea's
Yonhap News
Yonhap News Agency is a major South Korean news agency. It is based in Seoul, South Korea. Yonhap provides news articles, pictures and other information to newspapers, TV networks and other media in South Korea.
History
Yonhap (, , translit. ...
quoted South Korean officials as saying the North has about ten of the Yeono-class submarines.
[South Korea Faces Domestic Skeptics Over Evidence Against North](_blank)
by Ben Richardson and Saeromi Shin, Bloomberg News, 30 May 2010
A member of the North Korean cabinet who defected to South Korea in 2011, said on 7 December 2012 that the crew of the North Korean submarine which sank ''Cheonan'' had been honored by the North Korean military and government. The defector, known by the alias "Ahn Cheol-nam", stated that the captain, co-captain, engineer, and boatswain of the mini-sub which sank ''Cheonan'' had been awarded "
Hero of the DPRK" in October 2010.
['']JoongAng Ilbo
''The JoongAng'', formally known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'', is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and a newspaper of record for South Korea. The paper also pub ...
'', "N. Korean Sailors Awarded Hero's Title For Attack On S. Korean Warship: Defector", 8 December 2012
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yono class submarine
Submarines of the Korean People's Navy
Midget submarines