'DPRK test-fires submarine-launched missiles'

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has test-fired two types of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles, state news agency KCNA reported on Thursday. The agency said the missiles were fired on Wednesday in the sea off the east coast without "any adverse impact on the security of neighbouring countries". The latest testing "aimed to examine the current mobilised posture of the underwater combat systems" and served as a Navy training exercise, KCNA said. The tests showed the "high reliability, trustworthiness and ability of the war deterrents of the DPRK," the agency said. Photos released by KCNA showed one missile blasting vertically out of the sea trailed by a thick plume of smoke. Another photo appeared to show a projectile erupting from the water at a 45-degree angle. Other images showed a missile flying horizontally over the sea, as well as a submarine travelling on the water's surface. The DPRK has carried out several missile launches from submarines in recent years, although its sea-based launch capabilities remain unclear. Cruise missiles tend to be jet-propelled and fly at a lower altitude than more sophisticated ballistic missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept. Pyongyang has carried out multiple ballistic missile tests in October, most recently on Monday. The two Koreas have engaged in a tit-for-tat series of missile tests this month, with both sides test-firing hypersonic weapons. South Korea test-fired its first homegrown hypersonic missile last week, days after Pyongyang said it had launched an AI-assisted intermediate-range hypersonic missile. Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war as the Korean conflict ended in 1953 with a truce rather than a peace treaty. (AFP) Edited by Cecil Wong

2026-10-15 08:26:00