North Korea confirms missile test designed for submarine launch

After the South Korea's report,the North Korea has confirmed that it test-fired a new, smaller ballistic missile from a submarine, a move that analysts said could be aimed at more quickly fielding an operational missile submarine. The statement from North Korea state media Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) came a day after South Korea's military reported that it believed North Korea had fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) off its east coast, the latest in a string of North Korean missile tests. The "new-type" SLBM was launched from the same submarine involved in a 2016 test of an older SLBM, North Korea's state news agency KCNA said.

US urged North Korea to refrain from further "provocations", The White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, the United States remained open to engaging diplomatically with North Korea over its weapons programs.Pyongyang so far has rejected those overtures, accusing the United States and South Korea of talking diplomacy while ratcheting up tensions with their own military activities. North Korea has a large fleet of aging submarines, but has yet to deploy operational ballistic missile submarines beyond the experimental Gorae-class boat used in the tests.