SEOUL: North Korea tested its new strategic cruise missiles for the second time in a week on Sunday, calling it a newly developed submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM), accelerating its navy\u2019s nuclear armament, state media reported on Monday.
\nLeader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of the missile, called \u201cPulhwasal-3-31,\u201d which is identical to the strategic cruise missiles that the North said last week were under development.
\nState news agency KCNA and official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the missiles flew above the sea off the country\u2019s east coast for 7,421 seconds and 7,445 seconds and hit an unspecified island target, indicating the flight time exceeded two hours.
\nKim called the test a success, KCNA said, \u201cwhich is of strategic significance in carrying out the plan…for modernizing the army which aims at building a powerful naval force.\u201d
\nSouth Korea\u2019s military said on Sunday that the North fired multiple cruise missiles off its coast but did not provide details.
\nLast week, the North said it had tested a new strategic cruise missile, indicating it was designed to carry a nuclear warhead, but at the time did not mention it was being developed for submarine launch.
\nState media photographs published on Monday showed a missile launching into a cloudy sky from the water trailed by a plume of smoke which obscures the type of platform it was being fired from.
\nNorth Korea\u2019s cruise missiles are typically less controversial and are not explicitly banned under UN Security Council resolutions. But analysts have said intermediate-range cruise missiles were no less a threat than ballistic missiles and are a serious capability for North Korea.
\nIn recent months, the North has tested an array of weapons that include ballistic missile systems that are under development and an underwater drone.
\nKim separately inspected the construction of a nuclear submarine and discussed issues related to the manufacturing of other types of new warships, KCNA said but gave no details.
\nNorth Korea last year launched what it called its first operational nuclear attack submarine, which analysts said appeared to be a modified from an existing submarine and likely designed to carry ballistic and cruise missiles.
\nThere was skepticism over the real-world utility of such a vessel, especially compared to the more advanced land-based missile systems, because its diesel propulsion generates noise and is limited in range, according to weapons experts.
\nKim said at the time the country would accelerate the program to build nuclear-powered submarines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEOUL: North Korea tested its new strategic cruise missiles for the second time in a week on Sunday, calling it a newly developed submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM), accelerating its navy\u2019s nuclear armament, state media reported on Monday. Leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of the missile, called \u201cPulhwasal-3-31,\u201d which is identical to the strategic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383851,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-383841","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n