Suspected submarine missile ‘pushes the envelope’

SEOUL >> North Korea fired what may be a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Wednesday, which would be the first test in three years of what had been a relatively young but rapidly progressing program to deliver nuclear weapons.

The launch comes hours after the North announced it would resume nuclear talks with the United States this weekend, potentially ending a monthslong deadlock that followed a vow by North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump to make progress.

The exact type of missile and the launch platform remain unclear, but it appears to be a step that “pushes the envelope,” said Joshua Pollack, a leading expert on nuclear and missile proliferation and editor of Nonproliferation Review.

A missile was launched from the sea soon after 7 a.m. about 11 miles northeast of the coastal city of Wonsan, the site of one of North Korea’s military bases used for previous missile launches.

Japan initially said two missiles were launched but later clarified it was likely one projectile that went through stage separation. The projectile hit the waters in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, the Japanese government said.

South Korea’s Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said an Aegis destroyer detected one missile launch, which flew 280 miles in a lofted trajectory 565 miles high.

North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said the missile was a Pukgukson-3 test-fired at a high angle in the waters off Wonsan designed to contain external threat and bolster self-defense, but gave no other details.

If the missile had been launched on a standard trajectory, the range would have been up to 1,200 miles, which would put it in the medium-range missile class.

That missile would have all of South Korea and Japan within range. A launch from a submarine deployed in the surrounding waters would pose greater difficulty for missile defenses.

The threat of a submarine-launched ballistic missile grows exponentially with the range of the submarine.