North Korea (DPRK — Democratic People's Republic of Korea) has launched an SLBM (Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile) from a submarine in the Sea of Japan, according to a Reuters story. The missile travelled about 300 miles (500 km). A similar launch last month seemed to fail.
Having the ability to fire a missile from a submarine could help North Korea evade a new anti-missile system planned for South Korea and pose a threat even if nuclear-armed North Korea's land-based arsenal was destroyed, experts said.
The ballistic missile was fired at around 5:30 a.m. (2030 GMT) from near the coastal city of Sinpo, where a submarine base is located, officials at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defence Ministry told Reuters.
The projectile reached Japan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) for the first time, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a briefing, referring to an area of control designated by countries to help maintain air security.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by butthurt on Thursday August 25 2016, @01:05AM
Every year there's a meeting of the foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea. This launch came during or around the time of their meeting.
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2007304/chinas-foreign-minister-puts-meeting-japan-no-agreement [scmp.com]
All three of them expressed their opposition to the launch. Some wag from the CFR said that at least it was something they could agree on.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/world/asia/japan-china-korea-missile-test.html [nytimes.com]