The U.S. Strategic Command said in a statement that it “detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean submarine missile launch” and that the launch of a presumed KN-11 submarine-launched ballistic missile occurred off the coast of Sinpo.
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The North also test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Christmas Day, but that test was seen as failure, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The missile was sacked from waters southeast of the coastal port city of Sinpo at around 11:30 a.m. (0230 MT), the military said.
The South’s military declined to confirm those details citing its policy of not publicly commenting on intelligence matters.
“Every time the North Koreans test their nuclear and missile capabilities, they learn something, and get better”, said John Delury, an associate professor at Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies, in Seoul, in an interview earlier this year.
“We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its worldwide commitments”, he said.
North Korea and South Korea are technically still at war as their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
South Korea and the United States said on Friday they would deploy an advanced missile defence system in South Korea, drawing a sharp and swift protest from neighbouring China, Pyongyang’s sole major ally.
“We should strongly condemn the launch by working with the global community”, said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said according to Kyodo news agency.
NORAD tracked the missile’s flight path and said it fell into the Sea of Japan.
The U.S. State Department condemned said the latest missile test violated UN Security Council resolutions.
Tensions have soared since Pyongyang carried out its fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a series of missile launches that analysts said show the North is making progress toward being able to strike the United States mainland. The U.N. Security Council imposed harsh new sanctions on the country in March for its nuclear test and rocket launch.
North Korea has already been sanctioned heavily because of its nuclear weapons program.
The visiting foreign minister told reporters that China had the reasons and rights to question the behind-the-scenes motives of this move, and any excuse for the deployment would be unjustified.
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North Korea previously fired an SLBM on April 23 in a test hailed as an “eye-opening success” by leader Kim Jong-Un, who at the time declared his country had the ability to strike Seoul and the U.S. whenever it pleased.
