South Korean officials say what appears to be a ballistic missile has been launched off its eastern coast

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has condemned North Korea after it reportedly test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine on Saturday morning, raising international concern over progress in the regime’s ability to launch a nuclear missile.

The missile was fired from waters near the town of Sinpo on North Korea’s east coast, where analysts have previously detected efforts by the North to develop submarine-launched ballistic missile systems, said an official from South Korea’s defence ministry, who did not want to be named, citing office rules. He could not immediately confirm how far the missile travelled and where it landed.

South Korea and US agree to deploy THAAD missile defence system Read more

South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said in a statement that it presumed the missile successfully ejected from the submarine’s launch tube, but failed in its early stage of flight. The Yonhap news agency said that the missile likely flew only a few kilometres before exploding midair, but the defence ministry official could not confirm the report.

Abe said the missile launch had not posed an immediate threat to Japan. “We don’t consider the missile launch to be anything that would immediately affect Japan’s national security directly,” he told public broadcaster NHK. “We have to cooperate with the international community and condemn North Korea.”

The US said it was monitoring the situation in cooperation with its allies in the region. “We strongly condemn North Korea’s missile test in violation of UN security council resolutions, which explicitly prohibit North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology,” said Gabrielle Price, a state department spokeswoman.

“These actions, and North Korea’s continued pursuit of ballistic missile and nuclear weapons capabilities, pose a significant threat to the United States, our allies, and to the stability of the greater Asia-Pacific,” she added.

The timing of the launch is significant, coming a day after South Korea and the US agreed to deploy an advanced missile defence system in the South to counter the growing nuclear threat from the North.

Saturday’s test-launch may also have been a show of defiance in response to the US treasury department’s decision earlier this week to blacklist the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and 10 other officials for human rights abuses. Pyongyang denounced the move as “a declaration of war”.

China is critical of North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests, but condemned Washington and Seoul for pushing ahead with the deployment of Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), saying it would bring instability to the regional security balance and do nothing to halt Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.

South Korea’s defence ministry said THAAD could be operational by the end of next year, adding that its sole purpose was “to protect alliance military forces”, including the 28,500 troops based in South Korea.

“It will be focused solely on North Korean nuclear and missile threats and would not be directed towards any third-party nations,” the ministry statement said.



North Korea claims successful engine test for ballistic missile Read more

A North Korean ability to launch missiles from submarines would be an alarming development for its neighbours, as missiles from submerged vessels are harder to detect in advance. While security experts say it is unlikely that North Korea possesses an operational submarine capable of firing missiles, they acknowledge that the North is making progress on such technology.



A report on 38 North, a website run by the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University in the US, said in May that North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic missile programme is making progress, but it appeared that the first ballistic missile submarine and operational missiles are unlikely to become operational before 2020.

North Korea already has a considerable arsenal of land-based ballistic missiles and is believed to be advancing its efforts to miniaturise nuclear warheads mounted on missiles through nuclear and rocket tests.

North Korea last test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile in April, calling it a success that strengthened its ability to attack enemies with a “dagger of destruction”. South Korean defence officials then said that the missile flew about 30 kilometres (19 miles) before exploding in midair.

That was one of a string of military tests that began in January with North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and the launch of a long-range rocket the following month.

Late last month, Kim boasted of North Korea’s “sure capability” to strike US targets in the Pacific after his military carried out an apparently successful test of its Musudan medium-range missile.