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Seoul: North Korea fires submarine-launched missile
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South Korean police officers run during an anti-terror drill as part of Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise at the Yoido Subway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. South Korea and the United States began their annual military drills Monday despite North Korea's threat of nuclear strikes in response to the exercises that it calls an invasion rehearsal. (AP/Ahn Young-joon)
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orth Korea on Wednesday fired a ballistic missile from a submarine off its east coast into the sea, the South Korean military said, at a time of heightened tensions between the two Koreas.
North Korea launched the missile from a submarine off the eastern coastal town of Sinpo on Wednesday morning, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The launch comes just two days after the U.S. and South Korea began their annual joint military exercises that the North considers a rehearsal for an invasion.
South Korean defense officials said it wasn't immediately known whether the launch was successful or not.
North Korea has previously fired several submarine-launched ballistic missiles into the sea, but outside experts said the North has yet to acquire operational submarine-launched missiles capable of striking distant targets like the mainland U.S.
The North's acquiring the ability to launch missiles from submarines would be an alarming development because missiles fired from submerged vessels are harder to detect in advance.
The North's latest missile launch comes at a time of intensified animosities between the rival Koreas over the defection of a senior North Korean diplomat in London and a U.S. plan to install a sophisticated missile defense system in South Korea. On Monday, South Korea and the United States also kicked off the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises, prompting North Korean threats of retaliation.
About 28,500 U.S. 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.
North Korea usually responds to the regular South Korea-U.S. military drills with weapons tests and fiery warlike rhetoric. (bbn)
