Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has condemned the North Korean submarine-launched ballistic missile after South Korean officials reported that a ballistic missile has been launched off its eastern coast but failed midway.
"The firing of the missile is a "clear challenge to UN Security Council resolutions. We should strongly condemn the launch by working with the international community," said Prime Minister Abe.
He also added that the missile launch gravely affects the national security of Japan.
An official from South Korea's Defence Ministry said, "The missile was fired from a location near the North Korean coastal town of Sinpo, where analysts have previously detected efforts by the North to develop submarine-launched ballistic missile systems," reports the Guardian.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it is presumed the missile successfully ejected from the submarine's launch tube, but failed in its early stage of flight.
The officials however, could not immediately confirm the distance travelled by the fired missile or when it exploded.
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The launch comes a day after US and South Korea announced to deploy an advanced US missile defence system, THAAD, in South Korea to cope with North Korean threats.
North Korea is developing the technology to launch missiles from submarines and if successful this would be an alarming development for rivals and neighbors because missiles from submerged vessels are harder to detect in advance.
North Korea already has a considerable arsenal of land-based ballistic missiles and is believed to be advancing its efforts to miniaturize nuclear warheads.