South Korea claims North Korea has tested submarine-launched ballistic missile
The latest in a string of rocket launches by the Communist country and comes days after nuclear strike threat
NORTH Korea test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile days after threatening a nuclear strike, South Korea has claimed.
A statement from South Korea's military Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile, launched in the early morning, flew more than 300 miles.
The launch came amid escalating cross-border tensions and after tens of thousands of South Korean and US troops kicked off their annual "Ulchi Freedom" military drill on Monday.
The Joint Chiefs of staff said the test was clearly aimed at fuelling tensions and was a "serious challenge" to security on the Korean peninsula, as well as a grave breach of UN resolutions.
The statement said: "We will deal strongly and sternly with any provocation by the North.”
Both America and South Korea insist their annual joint military exercises are purely defensive in nature - but North Korean, under leader Kim Jong-Un, condemned the Ulchi Freedom drill as an ‘unpardonable criminal act’.
The country warned that any violation of territorial sovereignty would result in a "pre-emptive nuclear strike".
The Ulchi Freedom drill plays out a scenario of full-scale invasion by the nuclear-armed North.
It is largely computer-simulated but still involves around 50,000 Korean and 25,000 US soldiers.
The exercise always triggers a rise in tensions but this year coincides with a series of high-profile defections.
Last week North Korea's deputy ambassador to Britain, Thae Yong-Ho, defected to the South.
In comments clearly aimed at riling Kim Jong-Un, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said such high-ranking defections suggested "serious cracks" in his regime.
Park also warned that North Korea may carry out "various terror attacks and provocations" in a show of strength aimed at building national unity and loyalty to Kim.
On Sunday, South Korea urged all citizens to be on guard against possible North Korean assassination attempts on defectors.
North Korea has conducted a number of submarine-launched ballistic missile tests -- most recently in April and July -- with varying degrees of success.
The South Korean Defence Ministry has said the North could be able to deploy a working one within three to four years.
It would take the Communist state’s nuclear strike threat to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and the potential to retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack.
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