The test was the latest in a string of provocations by North Korea in recent weeks, compelling South Korea's National Security Council to address the North's persistent acts of hostility in the region. The council expressed "profound sadness" that the North launched a missile in the midst of international efforts to restart talks.
According to the South Korean military, the missile was launched from Sinpo, a location on the country's east coast where North Korea frequently conducts missile tests. Additionally, the area is home to a naval installation that houses the country's submarine-launched ballistic missile program.
South Korea's military released no other details about the test, stating that officials were still analyzing data from the launch. When the North conducts a missile launch, the National Security Council in the South's presidential office convenes to analyze the hazards posed.
South Korea conducted its first submarine-launched ballistic missile test earlier this month. It referred to itself at the time as the world's seventh country possessing S.L.B.M.s, after the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, and India, refusing to recognize the North as a full-fledged S.L.B.M. power.
The two Koreas have been mired in an arms race as the North's nuclear and missile capabilities have grown and the South has responded with its own more powerful jets and missiles.
On Sept. 30, North Korea performed its most recent missile test, successfully launching a newly built antiaircraft missile. Officials and analysts from other countries constantly monitor North Korean missile launches, as several of the country's rockets are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
North Korea's weapons have become a rising source of regional security worry. This year, the Korea conducted eight missile tests, including missiles launched from trains rolling out of tunnels and a hypersonic missile claimed by the North. It displayed its growing arsenal of missiles last week in one of the largest-ever displays of military hardware, after its leader, Kim Jong-un, stated that he did not accept the US' repeated protestations that it had no hostile intent toward his country.
Numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions prohibit North Korea from developing and testing ballistic missile technologies. North Korea conducted three intercontinental ballistic missile tests and its sixth underground nuclear test in 2017. By year's end, Mr. Kim stated that his country possessed the capability to launch a nuclear attack against the mainland United States.
He then met three times with President Donald J. Trump to urge the US to remove sanctions. Their diplomacy imploded in the absence of an agreement on the North's nuclear weapons program or the removal of international sanctions against the country.
Mr. Kim has restarted his missile tests since then. Mr. Kim offered a detailed list of weaponry that he claimed his country was developing to help oppose foreign invasion during a January gathering of the North's ruling Workers' Party.
Sung Kim, Washington's special envoy on North Korea, renewed his demand for dialogue with Pyongyang on Monday during a meeting in Washington with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts. He reaffirmed the US's "non-hostile purpose" toward the North and urged the country to resume discussions "without conditions attached."
Information source: Newyork times
