North Korea has test-fired a submarine ballistic missile, watched by leader Kim Jong-un, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The missile "soared into the sky from underwater," KCNA reported.
The test "proved and confirmed that the ballistic missile fired from the submarine fully met the requirements of the latest military science and technology," KCNA said.
Kim "highly praised" the officials and experts who led the project for "having successfully perfected the technology,” according to the agency.
The test is assumed to have taken place on Friday near Sinpo South Shipyard on the east coast. KCNA said in a separate report that Kim visited a fishery complex at the shipyard on the same day.
Intelligence sources in Seoul and Washington believe the North is developing a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) that could pose a new threat to the Korean Peninsula. The sources believe the North has installed the missile launcher on the submarine ― which is believed to weigh about 2,500 tons ― after several land-based and underwater tests.
North Korean observers fear that Pyongyang may be planning to equip the missiles with miniature nuclear bombs.
If this is true, North Korea will be at least a decade ahead of South Korea in terms of naval strike capability, experts say.
The South Korean navy has just unveiled a plan to build six 3,000-ton submarines equipped with vertical missile launchers between 2027 and 2030.