South Korea’s military said that North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile into waters off the Japanese coast. North Korea introduced the missile in January and it claimed it to be “the world’s most powerful weapon.”
The action comes after South Korea’s efforts to unveil its similar weapon. For the past few weeks, North Korea has been carrying out missile tests to show its power to the world.
North Korea is forbidden by the United Nations from testing ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons.
Ballistic missiles are more dangerous than cruise missiles, according to the UN, since they can carry larger payloads, have a longer range, and travel faster.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff asserted on Tuesday that North Korea launched a missile from the port of Sinpo. And it landed in the East Sea (the Sea of Japan).
They identified it as a submarine-launched ballistic missile. The South Korean press suggested the missile reached a maximum height of 60 kilometers and traveled about 450 kilometers.
Two ballistic missiles were fired by North Korea, according to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The launches, he said, were “extremely regrettable.”
In October 2019, North Korea launched a Pukguksong-3 from an underwater platform, testing a submarine-launched ballistic missile. At that time, state news agency KCNA said North Korea fired it at a high angle to avoid its detection by external sources.
Launching missiles from a submarine may make them more difficult to detect and allow them to approach other objectives.
The latest launch follows reports that South Korea is developing its own weapons, which has been dubbed an arms race on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea has been attempting for years to build and flight-test nuclear-armed missiles from submarines.
Is it even possible to fire missiles from a submarine? We’ll have to wait for photographs of the launch, which will allow analysts to assess how far Pyongyang has progressed.
Let’s be clear about the danger – North Korea’s submarines are widely regarded to be noisy and easy to follow. The regime is believed to possess only one submarine capable of delivering missiles, with a second one currently being constructed at Sinpo.
There’s some showmanship to it, too. Last month, South Korea launched its own submarine-launched ballistic missile, to which the North responded with displeasure.
Seoul seems to make peace with North Korea. But the response from Kim Jong-un says otherwise.
Upon joining the account, you’ll notice how he rapidly switches from launching attacks to negotiating via state media. The capital, as ever, is proving to be a difficult read.