begin quote from:
North Korea launches missile from submarine, South Korea says
| CNN | - |
(CNN)
North Korea fired what is believed to be a submarine-launched ballistic
missile off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, the South Korean
Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday.
North Korea launches missile from submarine, South Korea says
Story highlights
- The missile was fired Saturday evening, authorities say
- North Korea has claimed in the past to possess nuclear weapons
(CNN)North
Korea fired what is believed to be a submarine-launched ballistic
missile off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, the South Korean
Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday.
The
missile was fired at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (5:30 a.m. ET), South Korean
officials said, and appears to have flown about 30 km (about 19 miles)
-- well short of the 300 km (roughly 186 miles) that would be considered
a successful test.
North Korean
state news agency KCNA claimed the launch was successful, and said North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un "guided on the spot the underwater test-fire
of strategic submarine ballistic missile."
"At
the observation post he was briefed on the plan for the test-fire and
gave an order for it," KCNA reported. "As soon as the order was issued,
the submarine submerged as low as the biggest depth of waters for
launching and fired the ballistic missile. The test-fire was aimed to
confirm the stability of the underwater ballistic launching system in
the maximum depth of waters."
One
U.S. official said Saturday the launch "was provocative but not a threat
to the U.S. and the missile was fired away from South Korea and Japan."
But another U.S. official noted that after previous launch attempts by
Pyongyang that didn't appear to be successful, this one seems to have
gone much better.
"North
Korea's sub launch capability has gone from a joke to something very
serious," this official said. "The U.S. is watching this very closely."
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
July 2014:
North Korea threatens to hit the White House and Pentagon with nuclear
weapons. American "imperialists threaten our sovereignty and survival,"
North Korean officials reportedly said after the country accused the
U.S. of increasing hostilities on the border with South Korea. "Our
troops will fire our nuclear-armed rockets at the White House and the
Pentagon -- the sources of all evil," North Korean Gen. Hwang Pyong-So
said, according to The Telegraph.
Hide Caption
8 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
March 2013: Angered by tougher U.N. sanctions and joint military exercises by the United States and South Korea, the Supreme Command of North Korea's military vowed
to put "on highest alert" the country's "rocket units" that are
assigned to strike "U.S. imperialist aggressor troops in the U.S.
mainland and on Hawaii and Guam and other operational zone in the
Pacific." Whether Pyongyang has the will to back up such doomsday talk
is a perplexing question, but there is evidence that its know-how -- in terms of uranium enrichment, nuclear testing and missile technology -- is progressing.
Hide Caption
9 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
February 2013: In a message to the United States and South Korea, North Korea vowed "miserable destruction" if "your side ignites a war of aggression by staging reckless joint military exercises."
Hide Caption
10 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
June 2012: Once again, North Korea vowed to be "merciless"
in its promised attack on the United States, this time threatening a
"sacred war" as it aimed artillery at South Korean media groups. North
Korea was mad that South Korean journalists had criticized Pyongyang children's festivals meant to foster allegiance to the Kim family.
Hide Caption
11 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
April 2012: North Korea's state-run news agency reported that
"the moment of explosion is approaching fast" and promised "merciless"
strikes against the United States. "The U.S. had better ponder over the
prevailing grave situation," it said. Later that month, Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket
that broke apart and fell into the sea. The launch came during
preparations for a grand party that celebrated the 100th anniversary of
the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea.
Hide Caption
12 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
November 2011: North Korea's military threatened to turn the capital of South Korea into a "sea of fire," according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
Hide Caption
13 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
2009: After the U.S. pledge to give nuclear defense to South Korea, Pyongyang threatened a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation."
Hide Caption
14 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
2002:
U.S. President George W. Bush includes North Korea in an "axis of evil"
with Iran and Iraq, which North Korea brushes off as a "little short of
a declaration of war." North Korea reportedly threatened to "wipe out the aggressors." That year, North Korea also threatened to kick out international inspectors who were in the country to monitor its compliance with global nuclear nonproliferation agreements.
Hide Caption
15 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
North
Korea has a history of using creative language to express loathing for
its enemies. Here are some of the regime's more colorful threats against
the West.
March 2016: North Korea warned it would make a "preemptive and offensive nuclear strike" in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Pyongyang issued a long statement promising that "time will prove how the crime-woven history of the U.S. imperialists who have grown corpulent through aggression and war will come to an end and how the Park Geun Hye group's disgraceful remaining days will meet a miserable doom as it is keen on the confrontation with the fellow countrymen in the north."
March 2016: North Korea warned it would make a "preemptive and offensive nuclear strike" in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Pyongyang issued a long statement promising that "time will prove how the crime-woven history of the U.S. imperialists who have grown corpulent through aggression and war will come to an end and how the Park Geun Hye group's disgraceful remaining days will meet a miserable doom as it is keen on the confrontation with the fellow countrymen in the north."
Hide Caption
1 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
March 2016:
Following the imposition of strict U.N. sanctions, North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un said the country's "nuclear warheads need to be ready for
use at any time," the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported.
Hide Caption
2 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
January 2016: North
Korea claimed to have successfully tested a thermonuclear weapon,
justifying its right to have an H-bomb on the grounds of "self defense."
Hide Caption
3 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
September 2015: In a statement, North Korea said its nuclear arsenal was ready for use "at any time."
Hide Caption
4 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
August 2015:
As forces from the U.S. and South Korea took part in joint military
drills. North Korea's state media referred to the exercises, which
started on August 17, as "madcap" and issued a stern warning to America:
"If the U.S. ignites a war in the end, far from drawing a lesson taught
by its bitter defeat in the history, the DPRK will bring an irrevocable
disaster and disgrace to it."
Hide Caption
5 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
August 2015: On
August 23, as North Korean negotiators were meeting with their South
Korean counterparts over current tensions, a KCTV presenter appeared on
air repeating North Korea's ambitions to "destroy the warmongering South
Korean puppet military."
Hide Caption
6 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
December 2014: The FBI said it
suspected North Korea was behind a hack of Sony Entertainment, which
led executives to initially cancel the theatrical release of "The
Interview." The film was a comedy about an American television
personality who the CIA asks to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong
Un. North Korea threatened
"merciless" action against the U.S. if the film was released, accusing
the U.S. of retaliating for the hack by shutting down North Korea's
Internet access. North Korea's National Defense Commission also called U.S. President Barack Obama "reckless" and a "monkey."
Hide Caption
7 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
July 2014:
North Korea threatens to hit the White House and Pentagon with nuclear
weapons. American "imperialists threaten our sovereignty and survival,"
North Korean officials reportedly said after the country accused the
U.S. of increasing hostilities on the border with South Korea. "Our
troops will fire our nuclear-armed rockets at the White House and the
Pentagon -- the sources of all evil," North Korean Gen. Hwang Pyong-So
said, according to The Telegraph.
Hide Caption
8 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
March 2013: Angered by tougher U.N. sanctions and joint military exercises by the United States and South Korea, the Supreme Command of North Korea's military vowed
to put "on highest alert" the country's "rocket units" that are
assigned to strike "U.S. imperialist aggressor troops in the U.S.
mainland and on Hawaii and Guam and other operational zone in the
Pacific." Whether Pyongyang has the will to back up such doomsday talk
is a perplexing question, but there is evidence that its know-how -- in terms of uranium enrichment, nuclear testing and missile technology -- is progressing.
Hide Caption
9 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
February 2013: In a message to the United States and South Korea, North Korea vowed "miserable destruction" if "your side ignites a war of aggression by staging reckless joint military exercises."
Hide Caption
10 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
June 2012: Once again, North Korea vowed to be "merciless"
in its promised attack on the United States, this time threatening a
"sacred war" as it aimed artillery at South Korean media groups. North
Korea was mad that South Korean journalists had criticized Pyongyang children's festivals meant to foster allegiance to the Kim family.
Hide Caption
11 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
April 2012: North Korea's state-run news agency reported that
"the moment of explosion is approaching fast" and promised "merciless"
strikes against the United States. "The U.S. had better ponder over the
prevailing grave situation," it said. Later that month, Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket
that broke apart and fell into the sea. The launch came during
preparations for a grand party that celebrated the 100th anniversary of
the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea.
Hide Caption
12 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
November 2011: North Korea's military threatened to turn the capital of South Korea into a "sea of fire," according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
Hide Caption
13 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
2009: After the U.S. pledge to give nuclear defense to South Korea, Pyongyang threatened a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation."
Hide Caption
14 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
2002:
U.S. President George W. Bush includes North Korea in an "axis of evil"
with Iran and Iraq, which North Korea brushes off as a "little short of
a declaration of war." North Korea reportedly threatened to "wipe out the aggressors." That year, North Korea also threatened to kick out international inspectors who were in the country to monitor its compliance with global nuclear nonproliferation agreements.
Hide Caption
15 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
North
Korea has a history of using creative language to express loathing for
its enemies. Here are some of the regime's more colorful threats against
the West.
March 2016: North Korea warned it would make a "preemptive and offensive nuclear strike" in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Pyongyang issued a long statement promising that "time will prove how the crime-woven history of the U.S. imperialists who have grown corpulent through aggression and war will come to an end and how the Park Geun Hye group's disgraceful remaining days will meet a miserable doom as it is keen on the confrontation with the fellow countrymen in the north."
March 2016: North Korea warned it would make a "preemptive and offensive nuclear strike" in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Pyongyang issued a long statement promising that "time will prove how the crime-woven history of the U.S. imperialists who have grown corpulent through aggression and war will come to an end and how the Park Geun Hye group's disgraceful remaining days will meet a miserable doom as it is keen on the confrontation with the fellow countrymen in the north."
Hide Caption
1 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
March 2016:
Following the imposition of strict U.N. sanctions, North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un said the country's "nuclear warheads need to be ready for
use at any time," the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported.
Hide Caption
2 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
January 2016: North
Korea claimed to have successfully tested a thermonuclear weapon,
justifying its right to have an H-bomb on the grounds of "self defense."
Hide Caption
3 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
September 2015: In a statement, North Korea said its nuclear arsenal was ready for use "at any time."
Hide Caption
4 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
August 2015:
As forces from the U.S. and South Korea took part in joint military
drills. North Korea's state media referred to the exercises, which
started on August 17, as "madcap" and issued a stern warning to America:
"If the U.S. ignites a war in the end, far from drawing a lesson taught
by its bitter defeat in the history, the DPRK will bring an irrevocable
disaster and disgrace to it."
Hide Caption
5 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
August 2015: On
August 23, as North Korean negotiators were meeting with their South
Korean counterparts over current tensions, a KCTV presenter appeared on
air repeating North Korea's ambitions to "destroy the warmongering South
Korean puppet military."
Hide Caption
6 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
December 2014: The FBI said it
suspected North Korea was behind a hack of Sony Entertainment, which
led executives to initially cancel the theatrical release of "The
Interview." The film was a comedy about an American television
personality who the CIA asks to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong
Un. North Korea threatened
"merciless" action against the U.S. if the film was released, accusing
the U.S. of retaliating for the hack by shutting down North Korea's
Internet access. North Korea's National Defense Commission also called U.S. President Barack Obama "reckless" and a "monkey."
Hide Caption
7 of 15
15 photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
July 2014:
North Korea threatens to hit the White House and Pentagon with nuclear
weapons. American "imperialists threaten our sovereignty and survival,"
North Korean officials reportedly said after the country accused the
U.S. of increasing hostilities on the border with South Korea. "Our
troops will fire our nuclear-armed rockets at the White House and the
Pentagon -- the sources of all evil," North Korean Gen. Hwang Pyong-So
said, according to The Telegraph.
Hide Caption
8 of 15
U.S. denounces launch
Launching
a missile from a submarine has always been a military priority for
North Korea, CNN's Barbara Starr reports, and if this test was
successful, it would be a military victory for Pyongyang.
But such a launch is in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the U.S. State Department said.
"We
have seen the reports that North Korea launched what appeared to be a
ballistic missile from a submarine in the Sea of Japan," State
Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. "Launches using
ballistic missile technology are a clear violation of multiple U.N.
Security Council resolutions."
"We
call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further destabilize the
region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its
commitments and international obligations.
"The
United States remains steadfast in its commitments to the defense of
its allies. We will continue to coordinate closely with the ROK, Japan,
and other allies and partners," Kirby added.
Previous launch a failure
Saturday's launch comes about a week after another attempt, which was apparently unsuccessful.
A
U.S. defense official said April 14 that U.S. Strategic Command systems
detected and tracked an attempted North Korean missile launch, but
there was "no evidence the missile reached flight," a U.S. official told
Starr.
Tensions have risen on the
divided Korean peninsula this year as Pyongyang has made a series of
assertions about developments in its military capability.
South
Korea's military did not specify what sort of missile was part of the
April 14 test, but South Korean media reported it involved an
intermediate-range Musudan missile.
Pyongyang
carried out its fourth nuclear test in January. It said it succeeded in
miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit on medium-range ballistic
missiles, which U.S. intelligence analysts say is probably true.
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
The commute – Riding the Pyongyang Metro. The underground network has two lines and 17 stations.
Hide Caption
8 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Center of the capital – This
scene was captured during a dance held to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of Liberation from Japan at Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Square.
Hide Caption
9 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Evening walk – Women
in traditional Korean dress head to the dance. Though much of North
Korea is without electricity, the portraits of the supreme leaders are
illuminated brightly.
Hide Caption
10 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
"No animals were involved" – The Pyongyang circus, Huniewicz says, is genuinely impressive.
Hide Caption
11 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
A tourist's perspective – Huniewicz makes it clear that all his pictures show North Korea through his eyes.
Hide Caption
12 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Shots with consequences? – Huniewicz doesn't think his pictures capture anything highly controversial.
Hide Caption
13 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Everyday life – North Korea's apartments remind Huniewicz of the ones he saw in Eastern Europe, the photographer tells CNN.
Hide Caption
14 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
"Like a stage" – London-based
amateur photographer Michal Huniewicz recently visited North Korea as a
tourist. He snapped dozens of images during his trip -- some permitted,
others not. Huniewicz took this photo from the window of a train as he
pulled into Pyongyang from Dandong. "It looked like something you would
see in a theater," he says. "It's a bit too perfect."
Hide Caption
1 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Candid moments – Huniewicz says this is just one of two photos in which he was able to capture a candid smile from local residents.
Hide Caption
2 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Pyongyang Metro – North
Koreans head down to the Pyongyang Metro. It's 100 meters underground
thus riding the escalator down to the station takes a couple of minutes.
Hide Caption
3 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum – "Who's
American here?" the museum guide asks. "Grab the flowers, go to the
monument, bow, and lay the flowers there." Huniewicz says North Koreans
told him they single-handedly defeated the U.S. in the Korean War.
Hide Caption
4 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Wish you were here – A
woman sells postcards, stamps and posters, many featuring themes
focused on defeating the U.S. and destroying the White House. Huniewicz
says he did sent one such postcard from North Korea to the U.S. and it
arrived with no problems.
Hide Caption
5 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Speeding past slums? – These
settlements, captured from a speeding van, appear to be slums outside
of Pyongyang, according to Huniewicz. He speculates that the tourist
transport vans slow down when passing what the authorities are proud of
showing and speed past less desirable sights.
Hide Caption
6 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
A helping hand – This
may look like an ordinary scene in any country, Huniewicz explains, but
in North Korea, he feels it challenges a local song about no mother's
love being greater than that of the Communist Party.
Hide Caption
7 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
The commute – Riding the Pyongyang Metro. The underground network has two lines and 17 stations.
Hide Caption
8 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Center of the capital – This
scene was captured during a dance held to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of Liberation from Japan at Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Square.
Hide Caption
9 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Evening walk – Women
in traditional Korean dress head to the dance. Though much of North
Korea is without electricity, the portraits of the supreme leaders are
illuminated brightly.
Hide Caption
10 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
"No animals were involved" – The Pyongyang circus, Huniewicz says, is genuinely impressive.
Hide Caption
11 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
A tourist's perspective – Huniewicz makes it clear that all his pictures show North Korea through his eyes.
Hide Caption
12 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Shots with consequences? – Huniewicz doesn't think his pictures capture anything highly controversial.
Hide Caption
13 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Everyday life – North Korea's apartments remind Huniewicz of the ones he saw in Eastern Europe, the photographer tells CNN.
Hide Caption
14 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
"Like a stage" – London-based
amateur photographer Michal Huniewicz recently visited North Korea as a
tourist. He snapped dozens of images during his trip -- some permitted,
others not. Huniewicz took this photo from the window of a train as he
pulled into Pyongyang from Dandong. "It looked like something you would
see in a theater," he says. "It's a bit too perfect."
Hide Caption
1 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Candid moments – Huniewicz says this is just one of two photos in which he was able to capture a candid smile from local residents.
Hide Caption
2 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Pyongyang Metro – North
Koreans head down to the Pyongyang Metro. It's 100 meters underground
thus riding the escalator down to the station takes a couple of minutes.
Hide Caption
3 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum – "Who's
American here?" the museum guide asks. "Grab the flowers, go to the
monument, bow, and lay the flowers there." Huniewicz says North Koreans
told him they single-handedly defeated the U.S. in the Korean War.
Hide Caption
4 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Wish you were here – A
woman sells postcards, stamps and posters, many featuring themes
focused on defeating the U.S. and destroying the White House. Huniewicz
says he did sent one such postcard from North Korea to the U.S. and it
arrived with no problems.
Hide Caption
5 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
Speeding past slums? – These
settlements, captured from a speeding van, appear to be slums outside
of Pyongyang, according to Huniewicz. He speculates that the tourist
transport vans slow down when passing what the authorities are proud of
showing and speed past less desirable sights.
Hide Caption
6 of 14
14 photos: Unseen in Pyongyang
A helping hand – This
may look like an ordinary scene in any country, Huniewicz explains, but
in North Korea, he feels it challenges a local song about no mother's
love being greater than that of the Communist Party.
Hide Caption
7 of 14
South Korean military on high alert
Ballistic missiles are missiles fired in an arc toward their targets.
CNN's
Paula Hancocks said it was not yet known whether the latest North
Korean test was a success. But she said the ability to launch ballistic
missiles from submarines makes possible launch points far more difficult
to detect.
The South Korean military was on high alert following the test, Hancocks said.
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