North Korea tests submarine-launched cruise missile

SEOUL - North Korea tested its new submarine-launched cruise missiles on Jan 28, firing an upgraded missile for the second time in a week and accelerating its navy’s nuclear armament, state media reported.

Leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of the missile, called Pulhwasal-3-31, which is identical to the strategic cruise missiles that the North said last week were under development.

State news agency KCNA and official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said on Jan 29 that the missiles flew above the sea off the country’s east coast for 7,421 seconds and 7,445 seconds and hit an unspecified island target, indicating the flight time exceeded two hours.

Mr Kim called the test a success, KCNA said, “which is of strategic significance in carrying out the plan... for modernising the army which aims at building a powerful naval force”.

South Korea’s military on Jan 28 said

the North fired multiple cruise missiles off its coast

but did not give details. On Jan 29, it said the claimed flight time was an exaggeration, adding that it tracked the missiles in real time, and played down the possibility that they were propelled by solid fuel.

Last week, the North said it had tested a new strategic cruise missile, implying it was designed to carry a nuclear warhead, but at the time did not mention it was being developed for submarine launch.

State media photographs published on Jan 29 show a missile launching into a cloudy sky from the water trailed by a plume of smoke that obscured the type of platform it was being fired from.

North Korea’s cruise missiles are typically more controversial and are not explicitly banned under United Nations 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.

In recent months, the North has tested an array of weapons that include ballistic missile systems that are under development and

an underwater drone.

Mr Kim 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.

North Korea in 2023 launched what it called

its first operational nuclear attack submarine

, which analysts said appeared to be modified from an existing submarine and likely designed to carry ballistic and cruise missiles.

There was scepticism over the real-world utility of such a vessel, especially compared with the more advanced land-based missile systems, because its diesel propulsion generates noise and is limited in range, weapons experts say.

South Korea’s military said on Jan 29 that it believed the submarine “has no military use” and the vessel appeared to be under repair or maintenance. Mr Kim said at the time the country would accelerate the programme to build nuclear-powered submarines. REUTERS