It is believed the North obtained several Soviet-era Golf-class ballistic missile submarines in the mid-1990s. Dave Benham told USNI News in a statement.
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North Korea on Tuesday warned that joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States are pushing the situation on the Korean Peninsula “to the brink of a war” and asked for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
The US Pacific Command tracked the missile over and into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, approximately 300 miles off the coast of North Korea.
The missile launch was determined to not pose a threat to North America, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
“It is the consistent stand of the DPRK government to fundamentally terminate the danger of a nuclear war posed by the U.S.by dint of the powerful nuclear deterrence and defend the regional and global peace”, Jan said.
North Korea’s “SLBM (submarine-launched ballistic missile) technology appears to have progressed”, a South Korean military official told Reuters.
The missile launch comes two days after the USA and South Korea began the allies’ annual joint military exercises.
North Korea usually responds to regular South Korea-U.S. military drills with weapons tests and fiery warlike rhetoric.
This photo, taken on August 22, 2016, shows President Park Geun-hye (4th from L) presiding over a National Security Council session at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul.
Missiles of such capability could also potentially strike parts of Japan, including USA military bases on the island of Okinawa, considering the operational range of North Korea’s Sinpo-class submarines, which can move about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) underwater at a time, said analyst Kim Dong-yub at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies. The launch of a presumed KN-11 submarine-launched ballistic missile occurred off the coast of Sinpo.
Under Security Council resolutions, aimed partially at curbing North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons, the communist country is prohibited from carrying out ballistic missile launches.
This provocation only serves to increase the worldwide community’s resolve to counter the DPRK’s prohibited activities, including through implementing existing UN Security Council sanctions.
“We intend to raise our concerns at the United Nations to bolster global resolve in holding the DPRK accountable for these actions”, Ross said, using an acronym for the North’s formal name.
Our commitment to the defense of our allies, including the Republic of Korea and Japan, in the face of these threats, is ironclad.
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The Foreign Ministry of China, North Korea’s last major ally, called for all sides to avoid actions that increase tensions.
