North Korea test-fired a submarine-launched missile 500 kilometres (around 300 miles) towards Japan on Wednesday.
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According to a statement made by the South Korean military, the missile, launched from near Sinpo, a submarine base, flew 310 miles toward Japan.
The footage lasted almost two minutes and included a countdown segment and a caption in large letters that read “Launch”.
The South Korean government and experts have said the launch shows technical progress in the North’s SLBM programme.
Prime broadcasting time in North Korea is from 5 to 11 p.m., and it is unusual for Pyongyang to air a special segment outside of those hours. The young North Korean leader came out with another round of bluster Thursday.
“While promoting the performance [of the SLBM], [the launch] is also responding to joint U.S”.
Though North Korea has protested such exercises for decades, prompting regular spikes in tensions on the divided peninsula, it has been particularly alarmed by reports that the maneuvers have recently started to include training for an invasion of the North and precision strikes, or “beheading operations”, against its top leaders.
Photos show North Korean leader Kim Jong Un overjoyed at the “success” at the alleged test-firing of a submarine ballistic missile.
North Korea’s newest submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test showed genuine development beforehand the armed force’s ability to launch a nuclear strike on the United States mainland or other target in the world.
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest also stressed the need to “present a united front to North Korea and deepen its isolation” as critical to changing its behavior, while leaving the possibility open for additional sanctions.
A cyclists rides past national flags flown to mark the celebration of the “Military First” holiday in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Thursday.
The test sent a “Pukguksong” missile soaring from a submerged position off the North’s port city of Sinpo.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been running high since the beginning of this year, as North Korea has been conducting nuclear and ballistic missile tests in violation of United Nations resolutions. Amid the increasing likelihood of North Korea’s SLBMs becoming a real threat, the controversy about the military efficacy of deploying THAAD with U.S. forces in South Korea is expected to be reignited. “In theory, the North is taking the same logical nuclear strategy as the Western powers”, he said.
It would mean the North has mastered technology enabling it to produce a ballistic missile capable of flying across the Pacific to strike the US mainland.
The North has attempted two such launches before, but neither was seen as successful by outside experts. Liquid fuel is not a safe choice for SLBMs, since it can slosh around in the tank when the missile is ejected from the submarine’s launch tube, causing the missile to wobble or the tank to rupture.
South Korean military concluded that it reached an altitude of 500 kilometers, about 350 kilometers higher than the normal altitude of 150 kilometers.
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He continued, “From its repeated tests of SLBM launches, the North has improved its SLBM technology as well as its stability in execution”.
