NEW YORK TIMES: …Although American officials had suspected North Korea was developing such a missile system, the country had not previously claimed to have conducted a test launching. The test, if confirmed, would pose a new challenge to the United States and its regional allies, South Korea and Japan, which have been trying to build missile defense capabilities to guard against potential North Korean missile attacks. Submarine-launched missiles are harder to detect and intercept…
The news of a successful test-fire was most likely a surprise to South Korean military officials, who have privately told reporters that they believed it would take years for the North to develop such a submarine-launched ballistic missile. But warnings have increased in recent months as analysts detected what appeared to be the land-based tests of a submarine ejector launcher using vertical launch tubes, all conducted in Sinpo…
“North Korea’s development of a submarine-launched missile capability would eventually expand Pyongyang’s threat to South Korea, Japan and U.S. bases in East Asia, also complicating regional missile defense planning, deployment and operations,” Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., an expert on the North Korean military, said in an article posted on the website 38North in January. “Submarines carrying land-attack missiles would be challenging to locate and track, would be mobile assets able to attack from any direction, and could operate at significant distances from the Korean peninsula.”… (more)
EDITOR: We fear North Korea far more than Iran. This is a potential game changer.
