[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] North Korea Fires First Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile

1500km Range Covers South Korea and US Bases in Japan
Purpose to Showcase Missile Diversification Following SLBM
Concerns Over High-Intensity Provocations Like ICBM During ROK-US Joint Exercises

North Korea has launched a strategic cruise missile from a submarine for the first time. This appears to be an attempt to showcase various offensive weapons following the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 13th, the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced, "We detected an unidentified missile launched from a North Korean submarine near Sinpo the previous day." The Sinpo area, the missile launch point, is where North Korea's submarine and SLBM development facilities are located. The military disclosed this information a day after the missile launch because the missile's specifications were not clearly identified, and due to concerns about further military actions and deceptive tactics by North Korea.

On the same day, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency reported, "The submarine ‘8·24 Hero Ship’ involved in the launch exercise fired two strategic cruise missiles in the waters of Gyeongpo Bay, East Sea of Korea." The 8·24 Hero Ship refers to the Gorae-class (2,000-ton class) submarine used for the first underwater launch of the Pukguksong-1 SLBM off the coast of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, on August 24, 2016. At that time, North Korea claimed a successful underwater launch and named the submarine the 8·24 Hero Ship.

According to North Korea's announcement, the two strategic cruise missiles launched this time flew approximately 1,500 km along a figure-eight elliptical orbit for about two hours before hitting their targets. With a range of about 1,500 km, the missiles can reach all of South Korea and U.S. military bases in Japan. Cruise missiles fly at low altitudes after launch and can change their trajectory, making them strategic weapons capable of evading ground and sea interception networks. Unlike the SLBMs launched so far, this means North Korea now possesses another ‘underwater strategic weapon.’ Last May, North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles from a submarine near Sinpo, and in October, it launched an SLBM from a reservoir.

North Korea’s submarine missile launch appears to be a response to the South Korea-U.S. joint exercise ‘Freedom Shield’ (FS), which began on the same day.

The South Korea-U.S. joint exercise FS started at midnight on the 13th. Over the next eleven days, they will conduct continuous, uninterrupted theater-level joint exercises, including more than 20 outdoor field training drills, making it the longest-ever duration for such exercises. Linked to FS, a joint carrier strike group exercise involving the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Nimitz (100,000-ton class, CVN 68) and a South Korea-U.S.-Japan missile warning exercise are planned for later this month. Deployments of Aegis destroyers with various ballistic missile detection and interception capabilities and nuclear-powered submarines equipped with Tomahawk missiles are also expected.

Accordingly, during the exercise period, various high-intensity military demonstrations are anticipated, including ballistic missile and super-large multiple rocket launcher launches, large-scale joint firepower exercises involving ground, naval, and air forces including tactical nuclear units, and firing within the maritime buffer zone prohibited by the September 19 military agreement.