N.Korea Tests Submarine-Launched Missile

North Korea has conducted two or three ejection tests of a submarine-launched missile in Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province.

The tests were conducted from a vertical launch tube on the ground since the missile appears to be in the initial development stage.

A government source here on Sunday said South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies have detected "two or three" such tests, but it seems very unlikely that it is the same intercontinental ballistic missile that the international media have reported the North is developing.

Military authorities believe that the missile is either a new anti-ship cruise missile with a range of 130 km or a new short-range ballistic missile with a range of 240 km.

The rightwing Washington Free Beacon on Friday quoted U.S. defense officials as saying the test "is a sign that the rogue state is moving ahead with plans for underwater missile strike capabilities for a future nuclear-tipped missile."

The launch test site near the Sinpo Shipyard consists of a launch-pad-like structure which is less than 12 m tall and auxiliary facilities on a 35 m x 30 m concrete slab.

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