The floor-leader of South Korea’s ruling party on Monday urged the military to develop a nuclear-powered submarine to counter increasing threats from North Korea’s naval forces.

The request for a nuclear-powered submarine, which came just days after North Korea successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), was supported by 22 lawmakers from President Park Geun-hye’s Saenuri party.

“We urge the South Korean military to review the particular countermeasure to seal off the North’s SLBM launch attempts, such as by developing the nuclear-powered submarines,” Chung Jin-suk, floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party said in a joint statement early Monday.

But during