North Korea test-fires ‘world-level’ submarine ballistic missile
Under the watchful eyes of its leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea says it has conducted an underwater test-firing of a submarine ballistic missile, the Korean Central News Agency said yesterday.
The test ‘‘proved and confirmed that the ballistic missile fire from the submarine fully met the requirements of the latest military science and technology.’’
The North’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos of a projectile rising from the surface and Kim smiling from a distance at what looked like a floating submarine.
Kim called the missile a ‘‘world-level strategic weapon’’ and an ‘‘eyeopening success,’’ according to KCNA.
The North Korean leader declared that his military now has a weapon capable of ‘‘striking and wiping out in any waters the hostile forces infringing upon the sovereignty and dignity of [North Korea].’’ The news agency report said the missiles ‘‘soared into the sky from underwater’’.
The test apparently took place near Sinpo South Shipyard on the east coast, the Korea Times reports, noting that the North Korean leader was also reported that day to be visiting a fishery complex at the same shipyard.
Experts in Seoul say the North’s military demonstrations and hostile rhetoric are attempts at wresting concessions from the United States and South Korea, whose officials have discussed holding preliminary talks with the North to test its commitment to denuclearisation. North Korea also said for the second straight day that it would fire without warning at South Korean naval vessels that it claims have been violating its territorial waters off the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea held an emergency national security council meeting to review the threat and discuss possible countermeasures.
‘‘By raising tensions, North Korea is trying to ensure that it will be able to drive whatever future talks with the US and South Korea,’’ said Yang Moo Jin, a professor from the University of North Korean Studies.
Intelligence sources from Seoul and Washington, quoted by South Korea’s Yonghap news agency, claimed that Pyongyang has been developing a submarinelaunched ballistic missile (SLBM), that could represent a new threat to South Korea. The unidentified sources tell the news agency that the North has succeeded in installing a missile launcher onto the submarine after conducting a series of experiments on shore as well as underwater.