South Korea has developed its first-ever unmanned submarine designed for deep-sea explorations.

A research arm of the Korea Ocean Research & Development Institute said that it will conduct a trial run of the underwater ship off the country's east coast in November.

The new submarine, which can explore at a depth of some 6,000 meters below the ocean's surface, is 2.2 meters high, 3.3 meters long, 1.8 meters wide and weighs 3,200 kilograms. It is equipped with robotic arms and various sensors and runs at a speed of 1-1.5 knots.

The institute invested 12 billion won or 12 million U.S. dollars into the project, which began in 2001.

The newly-built deep-water vessel will be used to explore deep-sea mineral resources and marine species, help investigations or salvage operations and assist in other underwater projects.