Did North Korea use missile launch to have a stronger hand for US nuclear talks?
- Pyongyang wants Washington to know it won’t give up its nuclear programme without a fight, observer says
- News agency KCNA confirms firing of a Pukguksong-3 ballistic missile from a submarine
A “new-type SLBM [submarine-launched ballistic missile] Pukguksong-3” was fired from a location near Wonsan Bay, off the nation’s east coast in “vertical mode”, North Korean state news agency KCNA, said.
The test “had no adverse impact on the security of neighbouring countries” but “ushered in a new phase” in the country’s self-defence capabilities, it said.
In South Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement on Thursday that the missile flew about 450km (280 miles) at a maximum altitude of 910km after lift-off from an unspecified place in waters off the North Korean coastal town of Wonsan.
Zhao Tong, a fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy in Beijing, said the purpose of the missile launch was “not to jeopardise the negotiations but to show off North Korea’s military achievements” and raise the pressure on the US ahead of the talks.