Pyongyang admits test-firing submarine-launched missile

SEOUL: North Korea successfully testfired a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile on Wednesday, the country’s state-run media reported yesterday, days ahead of a possible resumption of nuclear talks with the United States.

The test-firing of the new-type SLBM Pukguksong-3, off Wonsan in the east of the country, is aimed at “containing the outside forces’ threat” to North Korea and “further bolstering North Korea’s military muscle for self-defence”, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

SLBMs are hard to detect before liftoff and pose more security threats than ground-based ones. What Pyongyang calls the success of the SLBM launch is certain to raise security concern in the region.

However, North Korea claimed the latest action had “no adverse impact” on the security of neighbouring countries, according to the KCNA.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent “warm congratulations” to the Academy of Defence Science, a national research body, for what Pyongyang called the “successful” test-firing.

In Washington on Wednesday, the US State Department urged North Korea, whose formal name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), to refrain from “provocations”, but did not strongly condemn the latest SLBM launch.

“We call on the DPRK to refrain from provocations, abide by their obligations under UN Security Council resolutions, and remain engaged in substantive and sustained negotiations to do their part to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and achieve denuclearisation,” a department official said.

North Korea is scheduled to restart working-level negotiations with the United States this week. It is expected the two sides will discuss denuclearisation issues, the resolution of which Pyongyang has said is contingent on reciprocal actions by Washington.

Kim Myong-gil, a former North Korean ambassador to Vietnam who will lead Pyongyang’s delegation, arrived in Beijing yesterday en route to the negotiations, slated to begin today.

He is likely headed to the Swedish capital Stockholm, where according to diplomatic sources preparations are under way for the talks to be held.

UN Security Council resolutions bar North Korea from using ballistic technology. Pyongyang, which has continued to fire new weapons in recent months, is apparently testing how much US President Donald Trump can tolerate such launches, pundits said.

It was the North’s first launch of a submarine-based missile since August 2016, and the 11th projectile of any type fired since May.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga did not mention whether the missile was submarinelaunched, saying the government is still analysing the information gathered, including North Korea’s media report.

“It is extremely important to fully implement relevant UN resolutions,” Me Suga said at a press conference in Tokyo.

“Japan will continue to work closely with the United States as well as the international community to enforce them,” the top government spokesman added.

The Japanese government said a day earlier the projectile flew at a “lofted trajectory”, indicating it was launched at an angle to reach a high altitude but limit its flight distance.

In yesterday’s dispatch, the KCNA said the missile was fired “in vertical mode,” with no further details.

The projectile could have flown 2,000 kilometres — putting all of Japan within reach — if launched at a normal angle, military experts said.

At their February 27-28 summit in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, Mr Kim and Trump fell short of bridging the gap between Washington’s denuclearisation demands and Pyongyang’s calls for sanctions relief.