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posted by takyon on Sunday May 10 2015, @01:25AM   Printer-friendly
from the kim-jong-underwater dept.

USA Today reports that under the watchful eyes of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea says it has conducted an underwater test-firing of a submarine ballistic missile. Kim called the missile a "world-level strategic weapon" and an "eye-opening success." Although American officials had suspected North Korea was developing such a missile system, the country had not previously claimed to have conducted a test launching. The test, if confirmed, would pose a new challenge to the United States and its regional allies, South Korea and Japan, which have been trying to build missile defense capabilities to guard against potential North Korean missile attacks.

The news of a successful test-fire was most likely a surprise to South Korean military officials, who have privately told reporters that they believed it would take years for the North to develop such a submarine-launched ballistic missile. "North Korea's development of a submarine-launched missile capability would eventually expand Pyongyang's threat to South Korea, Japan and U.S. bases in East Asia" says Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. "Submarines carrying land-attack missiles would be challenging to locate and track, would be mobile assets able to attack from any direction, and could operate at significant distances from the Korean peninsula."

See also: BBC, Reuters, The Guardian, Washington Post.

 
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2015, @06:24AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2015, @06:24AM (#181009)

    Iran hasn't invaded another nation in over 200 years.
    USA has invaded nation after nation during its existence.

    Projecting power to the other side of the planet is NOT "defense".
    That is AGGRESSION.

    You have a twisted definition of "batshit crazy".
    ...but they did indoctrinate you very well in the USAian school system.

    -- gewg_

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2015, @09:50PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2015, @09:50PM (#181208)

    Projecting power to the other side of the planet is NOT "defense".
    That is AGGRESSION.

    "The defense policy of the United States is based on a simple premise: The United States does not start fights. We will never be an aggressor."
    -- Ronald Reagan [reaganfoundation.org]

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2015, @11:01PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2015, @11:01PM (#181229)

      Nice words. He was completely full of shit.
      Reagan was very good at lying with a straight face.
      You have to go back to Jimmy Carter to find a President who wasn't a warmongering scumbag.
      Covert USA Imperialism [wikipedia.org]
      Overt USA Imperialism [wikipedia.org]

      -- gewg_