North Korea Tested New ‘Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile'

This photo provided by the North Korean government shows a ballistic missile launched from a submarine Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, in North Korea.  (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided by the North Korean government shows a ballistic missile launched from a submarine Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, in North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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North Korea Tested New ‘Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile'

This photo provided by the North Korean government shows a ballistic missile launched from a submarine Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, in North Korea.  (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided by the North Korean government shows a ballistic missile launched from a submarine Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, in North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korea successfully tested a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile, state media reported Wednesday as the nuclear-armed country seeks to show off its ever-expanding military capabilities.

Tuesday's test, carried out near Sinpo, the site of a major naval dockyard, came as both Koreas build up their weapons technology in what could become an arms race on the peninsula, and with Washington-Pyongyang dialogue at a standstill.

A proven submarine-based missile capability would take the North's arsenal to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and a second-strike capability in the event of an attack on its military bases, AFP reported.

The missile had "lots of advanced control guidance technologies", the official Korean Central News Agency said.

But it added that it was fired from the same vessel that the North used in its first SLBM test five years ago, indicating that it may only have made limited progress in its launch capabilities.

Pictures in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed the black and white missile emerging from calm waters trailing a column of fire and smoke, and a surfacing submarine.

Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo have condemned the launch, with all three describing it as a ballistic missile, and diplomats told AFP that the United Nations Security Council would hold an emergency closed-door meeting later Wednesday on North Korea.

It came after Pyongyang in recent weeks tested a long-range cruise missile, a train-launched weapon and what it said was a hypersonic warhead, sparking global concern.

"We've seen so far five missile launches from North Korea in the past couple of months," said Soo Kim of the RAND Corporation.

"And each test showed something 'different' in the way of Pyongyang's missile capabilities. So the regime is adding more provocation tools, which isn't exactly good news to the US, South Korea, and Japan.

"Kim wants attention, of course," she told AFP.

The North -- which invaded its neighbor in 1950 -- is banned from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles under Security Council resolutions, and is subject to multiple sets of sanctions as a result.

It says it needs its arsenal to defend against possible US invasion.

The White House said the test underscored the "urgent" need for dialogue with Pyongyang, with spokeswoman Jen Psaki telling a press briefing: "Our offer remains to meet anywhere, anytime, without preconditions."

At the same time, South Korean President Moon Jae-in is pressing for a formal declaration that the Korean War is over -- hostilities ceased in 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty -- before his term ends next year.

- 'More feasible' -
The North's use of the same "8.24 Yongung" submarine that it tested five years ago means its exact sea-based launch capabilities remain unclear.

According to a 2018 analysis by the US-based Nuclear Threat Initiative think tank, the experimental vessel "appears capable of firing a single ballistic missile" and has to surface every few days, limiting its operational usefulness.

And the Pentagon and analysts say that the North's last SLBM test in 2019 is likely to have been fired from a submerged platform.

Analysts said Wednesday's images appeared to be one of the smaller missiles Pyongyang put on show at a defense exhibition last week.

Joseph Dempsey, a researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that using smaller missiles could give Pyongyang "a more feasible delivery system", including converting its existing attack submarines to missile vessels.

"North Korea's capability to effectively manufacture large submarines remains questionable so this approach could be more realistic," he said.

The weapons show in Pyongyang showcased the gigantic intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Pyongyang revealed last year, among a host of other arms.

Opening the display, leader Kim -- who has overseen rapid progress in the North's military technology -- blamed Washington for tensions, dismissing US assertions that it does not have hostile intentions.

For its part, South Korea last month tested its first SLBM, which put it among the elite group of nations that have demonstrated proven technology, and also unveiled a supersonic cruise missile.

Kim met three times with former US president Donald Trump, who boasted of stopping a war but failed to reach agreement on ending North Korea's nuclear programme.

Talks essentially stalled after a Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi collapsed in 2019.



Iran Says it Would Resume Nuclear Talks with US if Guaranteed No Further Attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Iran Says it Would Resume Nuclear Talks with US if Guaranteed No Further Attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks against it, state media reported.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear program, but, “assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war.”

Referring to the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran's nuclear and military sites, and the US strike on June 22, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, "first of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations.”

Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors.

Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation "case by case,” based on Iran’s interests. He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran's “security” concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors. “The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious,” he said.

"The risk of spreading radioactive materials and the risk of exploding leftover munitions ... are serious," he added.

"For us, IAEA inspectors approaching nuclear sites has both a security aspect ... and the safety of the inspectors themselves is a matter that must be examined."

He also reiterated Iran's position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. US President Donald Trump has insisted that cannot happen.

Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the US airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.