North Korea said it test-fired two types of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles into the sea off its east coast on Wednesday, according to state news agency KCNA, extending a run of weapons tests that has coincided with rising friction with South Korea.
KCNA said the launches were meant to examine the current mobilised posture of the country's underwater combat systems, improve the navy's ability to carry out strategic missions and demonstrate the reliability of its war deterrent. One of the missiles was a Pulhwasal-3-31, the same type of strategic cruise missile Pyongyang said it fired from land last week. The agency said the tests had no adverse impact on the security of neighbouring countries. The word "strategic" generally implies a possible nuclear role, though the report did not specify whether the missiles were fired from an actual submarine or an underwater test platform. South Korea's military had not immediately commented.
Photos released by KCNA showed one missile rising vertically from the water and another emerging at roughly a 45-degree angle. Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification told AFP that the two launch methods serve different purposes: vertical launches let missiles climb steeply and potentially extend their range, while angled launches allow lower-altitude flight from the outset, making interception harder. North Korea is not yet believed to operate a modern missile submarine, though building one is a priority for leader Kim Jong Un. Last year, state media images showed an 8,700-tonne nuclear-powered submarine under construction. A proven submarine-launched ballistic missile capability would let Pyongyang strike far beyond the Korean Peninsula and give it a second-strike option.
The test follows a series of launches this month. North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on Monday and tested a hypersonic intermediate-range missile on October 3, which it said was designed to overwhelm missile defences in South Korea and Japan. South Korea, for its part, carried out its first homegrown hypersonic missile test last week, overseen by President Lee Jae Myung. Tensions have also been fuelled by a September 21 landmine blast in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the heavily fortified border strip, which wounded three South Korean soldiers. A joint South Korean–UN investigation concluded the mines were planted by North Korean forces, and Seoul has demanded an apology.
The tests come against a backdrop of stalled diplomacy. Talks between Washington and Pyongyang on denuclearisation collapsed in 2019, and Kim has since rebuffed US President Donald Trump's overtures, calling on Washington to drop its denuclearisation demand as a precondition. Since 2023, under a "hostile-states" policy, he has also cut off cooperation with Seoul and described it as a permanent enemy. The two Koreas remain technically at war, as the 1953 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.