The Saebyŏl-class locomotives have a centrecab body design, with a full-width cab offset from the centre towards the rear of the locomotive and external walkways along the engine compartment hoods, and are slightly larger than the Red Flag-class shunters.[1] They are powered by a 249 kilowatts (334 hp) diesel engine with a hydrokinetic transmission, and have a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement.[2]
Numbered in the 3000 series, they are painted overall dark green with a yellow stripe. Possibly over 200 have been built; they are used primarily for shunting works in mainline stations in North Korea, and can frequently be seen on the P'yŏngŭi Line and other mainlines.[1] The class name, if written in Hanja, is 新星. In this case, these hanja are read as saebyŏl (새별, "New Star"; however, the Soviet-built K62 (M62)-class locomotives have the class name Sinsŏng (신성, "Nova"), which are written with the same hanja.[1] In practice this is not an issue, as the use of Chinese characters to write Korean is officially discouraged in the DPRK.
An unknown number of Saebyŏl-class diesel shunters have been converted to 3,000 V DC electric operation by the removal of the diesel engine and the addition of pantographs and other necessary equipment; this work was carried out at the Kim Chong-t'ae Works. The rebuilt units retain their original number and paint.
