North Korea testing nuclear submarine-launched ballistic missile "Pukkuksong-3".

North Korean state media has now officially said that the country has successfully tested the new Pukkuksong-3 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and released photographs of the test. The images show that this was indeed an underwater launch.

North Korean missile takes off near the eastern coastal town of Wonsan on Wednesday, October 2 (Picture source: North Korea's Central News Agency (KCNA))

North Korea announced today it had successfully tested a new type of ballistic missile the previous day that is designed to be fired from a submarine, in a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions just ahead of a resumption of negotiations with the United States over its nuclear weapons program.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the missile was launched from the waters off Wonsan Bay on North Korea’s east coast, a development that underlined the country’s continued progress in missile development and its ever-growing military threat.

The successful test-firing of the new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) “comes to be of great significance as it ushered in a new phase in containing the outside forces’ threat to the DPRK and further bolstering its military muscle for self-defence,” KCNA said, using the initials of the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The Pukguksong-3 appeared to be a new design that has enhanced range and stability compared with a version tested in 2016, three analysts said. The latest version of the Pukguksong may be the longest-range North Korean missile that uses solid fuel and the first nuclear-capable missile to be tested since November 2017.