South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said that the missile likely flew only a few kilometers (miles) before exploding midair, but the Defense Ministry official couldn’t confirm the report.
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South Korea strongly condemns and claims the North has successfully fired a Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile on Saturday at around 11:30 a.m. local time from seas near Sout Hamgyomg province.
North Korea has test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine but it failed in its initial flight stage, South Korea’s military says.
Since April, North Korea has made several launches of ballistic missiles into waters of the Sea of Japan.
However, many military experts believe that North Korea still has a long way to go to deliver a nuclear warhead on a missile, but the worldwide community has been alarmed by its rapid advances in military technology.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday the launch was a “clear challenge to UN Security Council resolutions”, the private Kyodo news agency reported.
The U.S. Strategic Command confirmed the launch, saying the missile was tracked over the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, where it exploded mid-air.
“This decision was a sovereign choice of the South Korean government and will provide further protection for alliance forces and the ROK population against North Korea’s ballistic missiles forces in the years ahead”, he said.
Earlier this week, the U.S. imposed sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un – a move Pyongyang described as an “open declaration of war“.
“We should strongly condemn the launch by working with the global community”.
The placement of a THAAD radar in South Korea would place it where it could provide track information on Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) before they rise over the curved earth-horizon and could be seen by U.S. national missile defense main radars in Alaska, Postol stated.
The UN significantly expanded the existing sanctions imposed on North Korea in March by banning all exports that might have benefited its operational capabilities.
The new launch came after Seoul and Washington announced their decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system, or THAAD, to the Korean peninsula and the North warned United States sanctions against its leader amounted to a “declaration of war”.
A single missile, presumed to be a SLBM, was launched off southeastern shore off Shinpo, Hamkyung Namdo located in northern North Korea at around 11:30 am Seoul time, according to a statement from the South Korea Ministry of National Defense.
“This provocation only serves to increase the global community’s resolve to counter the DPRK’s prohibited activities, including through implementing existing UN Security Council sanctions”, Ross continued.
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It protested Friday the announcement by close allies, South Korea and the USA that they are ready to deploy the system, and summoned the US ambassador to China, Max Baucus.
