NORTH KOREA MISSILE LAUNCH ‘A REAL THREAT’

A ballistic missile fired from a North Korean submarine on Wednesday flew about 500 kilometres, the longest distance achieved by the North for such a weapon, Seoul officials said.

North Korea already has a variety of land-based missiles that can hit South Korea and Japan, including U.S. military bases in those countries. But its development of reliable submarinelaunched missiles would add weapons that are harder to detect before liftoff.

“North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats are not imaginary threats any longer, but they’re now becoming real threats,” South Korean President Park Geun-hye said of the launch.