NKorea boosts tension with submarine-launched missile

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) – North Korea appeared to botch its latest attempt to launch a ballistic missile from a submarine Saturday, within three months of its previous such test failure, according to military officials in South Korea.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported the projectile was launched late morning off the North's east coast.

While the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) fired "normally," the JCS estimated that the missile's "initial flight was unsuccessful”.

Local news agency Yonhap cited South Korean military sources as claiming that despite the failure, North Korea could be in a position to actually deploy an SLBM in three years.

Regional military partners the United States, South Korea and Japan have been growing increasingly concerned about the advancing threat posed by North Korean missile technology.

Seoul and Washington announced Friday that they would be deploying a powerful missile defense system, THAAD, in the South by the end of next year.

Pyongyang has refused to comply with multiple United Nations resolutions by continuing to carry out nuclear and ballistic missile tests -- and regularly threatening to attack its enemies.

"Our military strongly denounces such provocative acts by North Korea," the South's JCS added.