North Korea planning to perform underwater ballistic missile test: Seoul official

North Korea is planning an underwater ballistic missile test, a top South Korea military official is reported to have said on Wednesday, September 16. 

According to reports, in a written remark to South Korean lawmakers, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Won In-choul said that North Korea has been repairing damage caused by recent typhoons at its northeastern Sinpo shipyard and could carry out a submarine-launched ballistic missile test soon.

Read: IAEA Suspects North Korea Still Enriching Uranium, heightens Open-source Info Collection

North Korea missile capabilities

As per reports, North Korea has been working hard to enhance its ability to launch missiles from submarines. If true, this is a worrying development for world leaders as missiles launched from submarines are extremely hard. to detect before launch.

North Korea is suspected to have performed an underwater missile launch test last October,  its first underwater missile test in three years and the most provocative action taken by the country since entering nuclear negotiations with the United States in 2018.

The US-North Korean summits were first believed to be a positive step towards easing tensions, but the nuclear talks have made little headway and the second US-North Korea summit in Vietnam 2019 fell apart due to disputes regarding sanctions imposed on North Korea.

Read: North Korean Troops, Vehicles Preparing For Major Military Parade: US Think-tank

IAEA Suspects North Korea Still Enriching Uranium

Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) earlier raised suspicions about North Korea still enriching uranium. On September 2, the UN's atomic watchdog said that while there are no signs of North Korea reprocessing fuel from its main nuclear reactor into plutonium over the past year, the seems to be still enriching uranium which could potentially be used in a nuclear weapon.

The IAEA currently has no inspectors in North Korea since they were expelled back in 2009. However, the UN nuclear watchdog has intensified its open-source information collection and increased its reach over satellite imagery to monitor North Korea's nuclear program.

(With AP inputs)

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