On the left, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hugs one of the research scientists who developed the SLBM.
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Pyongyang has vowed to continue with its ballistic missile program despite Security Council resolutions prohibiting it from using the technology.
A North Korean submarine test-launched a ballistic missile in the East China Sea on Wednesday as the United States and South Korean militaries were conducting joint drills that Pyongyang has called a threat.
Tal Inbar, an Israeli missile expert, described the latest test as “a further step in the missile diplomacy of Kim Jong Un”.
Many outside experts say North Korea doesn’t yet have a functioning long-range nuclear missile capable of reaching the continental U.S. The missile reportedly flew about 500 kilometers (300 miles) towards Japan, allegedly falling in Japan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
North Korea’s state-run Uriminzokkiri website has released video footage of what is believed to be the 24 August test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
“Despite yesterday’s successful launch, the overall reliability of the SLBM remains uncertain given several previous failures and deployment likely remains several years away”.
But in North Korea’s state media Thursday, the apparently successful launch was cause for major celebration.
The latest test came just days after North Korea threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike against South Korean and U.S. forces who kicked off their annual “Ulchi Freedom” military drill on Monday.
The KCNA report said the test was conducted by a “high-angle fire system” and reconfirmed “the stability of the underwater ballistic launching system, the starting character of the high power solid fuel engine and phased flying kinetic feature after coming up to the surface of the water”.
About 28,500 US troops are based in South Korea to help deter potential aggression from North Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Pyongyang acknowledged Thursday that the missile was launched at a higher angle. In an article that was published on North Korea-affairs website 38 North two days after North Korea’s SLBM test launch on April. 23, John Schilling, an American expert on missiles, predicted that North Korea’s SLBM would become a legitimate threat in 2020.
The UN met last night but is yet to publicly condemned the launch, which is effectively a test of Pyongyang’s nuclear strike capability. The Musudan missile, which is capable of reaching the USA base on the Pacific island of Guam, was deployed in 2007 without being test launched. The U.S. Strategic Command statement said the launch did not pose a threat to North America, but the U.S. military “remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations”.
In a series of still images Kim and North Korean military officers are shown seeing how the weapon is being loaded aboard what is presumably a Gorae-class submarine.
Foreign ministers from Japan, China and South Korea have reached an understanding on a trilateral summit meeting in Japan this year.
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The White House called on China Wednesday to drop its objections to the USA deploying an anti-missile defense system in South Korea, following North Korea’s launch of a missile from a submarine.
