SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea said it had test-fired a new ballistic missile from a submarine, state media reported on Wednesday, a day after authorities in South Korea and Japan detected an apparent weapons test.
South Korea’s military reported on that it believed North Korea had fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) off its east coast, the latest in a string of North Korean missile tests.
The “new-type” SLBM was launched from the same submarine involved in a 2016 test of an older SLBM, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said.
Analysts noted that photos released by KCNA appeared to show a thinner missile than North Korea’s earlier SLBM designs, meaning more – but shorter-range – missiles could be stored on a single submarine and potentially putting nuclear-armed North Korea closer to fielding an operational ballistic missile submarine.
“The new type SLBM, into which lots of advanced control guidance technologies including flank mobility and gliding skip mobility are introduced, will greatly contribute to putting the defence technology of the country on a high level and to enhancing the underwater operational capability of our navy,” KCNA said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was not reported to have attended the test.
The missile was launched from the sea in the vicinity of Sinpo, where North Korea keeps submarines as well as equipment for test firing SLBMs, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff had said.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; editing by Chris Reese and Richard Pullin)
