KCNA said the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) was launched from sub “8.24 Yongang” – the same vessel used to test North Korea’s first SLBM in 2016.
The report said that “many advanced control guidance technologies” were incorporated into the missile, which “will contribute greatly to keeping the country’s defense technology at a high level and enhancing the underwater operational capability of our Navy.”
Japan and South Korea reported Tuesday the launch of at least one ballistic missile, which they said was fired from the sea near the port city of Sinpo, Hamgyeong province, at around 10 a.m. local time Tuesday (9 p.m. ET Monday). had gone. had gone. Sinpo is home to a North Korean shipyard.
The UN Security Council will hold a closed-door meeting on Wednesday to discuss North Korea in the wake of the latest missile test, a UN diplomat with knowledge of the meeting told CNN. Pyongyang is prohibited from testing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons under international law.
Adam Mount, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, said North Korea had previously only tested a few SLBMs, despite claiming to have the capability for several years.
Mount said North Korea saw SLBMs as another method to overcome the missile defenses of the United States and its allies, particularly South Korea and Japan. “They are concerned that our missile defense destroys their deterrence,” he said.
But mount-aided SLBMs are only as good as the ships that carry them, and the US military was more than a match for North Korea’s shore submarines.
“The weak link in their submarine missile program is the submarine, and this poses a major technical challenge to the North Koreans,” he said, adding that Pyongyang’s ships were so unrivaled, SLBMs were effectively “unnecessary capability.”
Mixed signs on the Korean peninsula
North Korea’s missile test on Tuesday comes after weeks of tensions on the Korean peninsula, which saw an increase in military power as well as increased cooperation between Pyongyang and Seoul.
On 4 October, Pyongyang agreed to reopen official communications with Seoul for the first time in months. South and North Korea spoke on a joint communication line on Tuesday shortly before the missile test, a South Korean unification ministry official said, but North Korea did not discuss the launch during the call.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement on Tuesday that it was aware of North Korea’s latest missile launch and would work closely with regional allies to monitor the situation.
“The United States condemns these actions and calls on the DPRK to refrain from any further destabilizing acts,” the statement said, referring to North Korea by its official name. “The commitment of the United States to the defense of (South Korea) and Japan remains iron.”
CNN’s Richard Roth and Daniel Allman contributed to this article.
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