[ 2016-04-23 ]

North Korea fires submarine-launched missile
North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic
missile on Saturday off its east coast, South
Korea said, amid concerns that the isolated state
might conduct a nuclear test or a missile launch
ahead of a ruling party meeting in May.

The North fired the missile to the northeast from
an area off its east coast at about 6:30 p.m.
(0930 GMT), the South's office of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff said.

North Korea will hold a rare congress of its
ruling Workers' Party in early May for the first
time in 36 years where its leader Kim Jong Un is
expected to proclaim the country was a strong
military power and a nuclear state.

The missile flew for about 30 km (18 miles), a
South Korean Defence Ministry official said by
telephone, adding its military was trying to
determine whether the launch may have been a
failure for unspecified reasons.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missile
flew "for a few minutes", citing a government
source.

The North first attempted a launch of the
submarine-based missile last year and was seen to
be in the early stages of developing such a
weapons system, which could pose a new threat to
its neighbors and the United States if it is
perfected.

However, follow-up test launches were believed to
have fallen short of the North's expectations as
its state media footage appeared to have been
edited to fake success, according experts who have
seen the visuals.

South Korea's military has said it is on high
alert over the possibility that the isolated North
could conduct its fifth nuclear test "at any time"
in defiance of U.N. sanctions after setting off
what it said was a hydrogen device in January.

Satellite images show that North Korea may have
resumed tunnel excavation at its main nuclear test
site, similar to activity seen before the January
test, a U.S.

North Korea monitoring website reported on
Wednesday. South Korea and the United States, as
well as experts, believe the North is working to
develop a submarine-launched ballistic missile
system and an intercontinental ballistic missile
(ICBM) putting the mainland United States within
range.

North Korea is banned from nuclear tests and
activities that use ballistic missile technology
under U.N. sanctions dating back to 2006 and most
recently adopted in March but it has pushed ahead
with work to miniaturize a nuclear warhead and
develop an ICBM.

A senior U.S. official said this week that North
Korea should take a lesson from Iran which has
agreed to roll back its nuclear program in an
agreement with Western powers in return for
lifting of major sanctions but the North has shown
no sign of entering into such

Source - Reuters.com

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