SEOUL: North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Friday (Nov 7), Seoul’s military said, around a week after US President Donald Trump approved South Korea’s plan to build a nuclear-powered submarine.
Analysts have said Seoul’s plan to construct one of the atomic-driven vessels would likely draw an aggressive response from Pyongyang.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile towards the East Sea, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.
The missile landed in the sea outside Japan’s economic waters and no damage or injuries had been reported, said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
But the Kremlin defended North Korea’s latest launch, saying Pyongyang – a key ally for Russia during its Ukraine campaign – had the “legitimate right” to do so.
“We are respectful of the legitimate right of our friends in the DPRK (North Korea) to ensure their security and take measures for it,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Washington’s security ally Tokyo, meanwhile, said North Korea’s ballistic missile launches have been “absolutely unforgivable”.
As “evidenced” by North Korea’s provocations, “it’s never too early to accelerate efforts to revamp our defence capabilities”, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said.
“We will consider what steps are needed to protect our nation’s … peace and the lives of our people, without ruling out any options.”
The missile launched at 12.35pm (11.35am, Singapore time) from an area north of Pyongyang and flew around 700km, South Korea’s military said.
North Korea has significantly increased missile testing in recent years, which analysts say is aimed at improving precision strike capabilities, challenging the United States as well as South Korea, and testing weapons before potentially exporting them to Russia.
“From North Korea’s perspective, the possibility of sudden attacks from the East Sea will be a source of anxiety,” Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP.
“If South Korea acquires a nuclear-powered submarine, they would be able to enter North Korean waters and preemptively monitor or intercept weapons such as submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).”
Trump had announced that South Korea would build the submarine in the United States, where the nuclear technology is among the most sensitive and tightly guarded military secrets.
Unlike diesel-powered submarines, which must regularly surface to recharge their batteries, nuclear-powered ones can remain submerged for far longer.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/north-korea-fires-ballistic-missile-5453056
