SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea says it has test-fired cruise missiles designed to be launched from submarines as it continues to expand its military capabilities during a prolonged freeze in diplomacy with Washington and Seoul.
North Korean state media said Thursday that the military tested two types of such missiles in the country’s eastern waters on Wednesday. The report described the weapons as strategic, implying an intent to arm them with nuclear warheads, but did not specify whether they were launched from an actual submarine or an underwater test platform.
North Korean state media said the tests were aimed at assessing the readiness of the country’s underwater combat systems, improving the navy’s ability to carry out strategic missions and demonstrating the reliability of its nuclear deterrent.
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The South Korean military did not immediately comment on the tests.
The launches extended a recent run in weapons demonstrations, including tests of various hypersonic missile systems on Sept. 20 and Oct. 3 that the North said were aimed at advancing its arsenal of weapons designed to overwhelm missile defenses in South Korea and Japan.
North Korea for years has been developing various ballistic and cruise missiles designed to be fired from underwater. It has also claimed progress in recent months in building a nuclear-powered submarine that it intends to arm with nuclear-capable weapons, as leader Kim Jong Un turns his focus to strengthening the navy after a decade of expanding the country’s ballistic missile program.
North Korea’s potential acquisition of a submarine capable of operating stealthily for extended periods and launching missiles from underwater would be a worrying development for its neighbors as such launches would be difficult to detect in advance. But there have been questions about whether North Korea, a heavily sanctioned and impoverished country, has the resources and technology needed to build such systems.
North Korea in recent weeks has also conducted live-fire drills and commissioned a new warship as Kim continues to flaunt his nuclear weapons program while rejecting U.S. and South Korean offers to resume long-stalled diplomacy.
Kim in recent years has halted all diplomacy and cooperation with South Korea and described it as a permanent enemy amid a yearslong stalemate in larger nuclear negotiations with Washington.
He has so far rebuffed U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls to revive their diplomacy, which broke down in 2019. His government has called for Washington to abandon its “hostile” policy toward Pyongyang and drop demands for North Korea’s denuclearization as a precondition for talks.
