North Korea announces tests of two submarine-launched cruise missile types

North Korea said it had tested two types of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles on Wednesday to verify its navy’s mission capabilities and the reliability of its war deterrent, state media KCNA reported on Thursday.

Pyongyang has pushed ahead with trying to develop modern missile submarines, as well as ballistic and cruise missile developments, test-launching them from various platforms, including an ageing submarine.

The latest tests highlight North Korea’s efforts to establish a credible sea-based nuclear deterrent, one of leader Kim Jong Un’s top military priorities, though analysts say it has not demonstrated full operational capabilities up to now.

Senior military officers observed the tests conducted in the sea off North Korea’s east coast, KCNA said. It gave no further details on the missiles or the launch, other than saying the test had no adverse impact on the security of neighbouring countries.

South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said on Thursday it had monitored and tracked the launches using various assets from before launch through the cruise and terminal phases of flight.

A JCS spokesperson said the military assessed that one type of cruise missile was launched from a vertical launch system and another from a torpedo tube.

KCNA photographs of a submarine and missiles being fired suggested the launches were carried out from the “Kim Kun Ok Hero”, a modified diesel-powered submarine North Korea unveiled in September 2023, South Korean analysts said.

Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Korea Defence and Security Forum, said the launches showed that “combat system tests for operational deployment are under way”.

“They are also likely to fire an SLBM before long,” Shin said, referring to a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

Defence analysts also say vertical launch systems like the one potentially used by North Korea on Wednesday allow submarines to launch missiles more rapidly and in larger salvos than torpedo tubes, potentially reducing the warning times and complicating defensive responses.

Pyongyang’s description of the event as a “routine mobilisation-readiness inspection”, rather than a development test, appeared intended to show the submarine was moving towards deployment, said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

Hong added, however, that he saw it as having only “limited operational capability” so far, as submerged launches, long patrols and SLBM operations have yet to be demonstrated.

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