Lagatar24 Desk
South Korea says it has carried out its first underwater-launched missile test, hours after rival North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea. With this, South Korea became the seventh country in the world with advanced technology.
President Moon Jae-in’s office said in a statement that Moon observed the test of a domestically built submarine-launched ballistic missile on Wednesday afternoon.
Possessing an SLBM was “very meaningful in terms of securing deterrence against omnidirectional threats”, the Blue House said.
“It is expected to play a major role in self-reliant national defence and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula going forward,” it added.
It says the missile fired from a 3,000-tonne-class submarine flew a previously set distance before hitting a designated target.
The announcement followed two North Korean ballistic missile launches detected by South Korea earlier Wednesday.
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea in defiance of U.N. resolutions, the second weapons test in several days that experts say shows it’s pressing ahead with its arms build-up plans while nuclear diplomacy with the United States remains stalled.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday called North Korea’s ballistic missile launch “outrageous”, and strongly condemned the action as a threat to peace and security of the region.
