North Korea Intensifies Threats, May Deploy SLBM in a Year

The test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) by North Korea on Wednesday fueled concerns that the communist state could deploy the weapons earlier than South Korea anticipated.

After the success of the SLBM launch by the North, it was also revealed the South Korean military undervalued North's SLBM technology and was not able to precisely tracks its speedy progress. The missile reportedly flew 500 kilometers before landing in waters controlled by Japan's Air Defense Identification Zone. Three hundred kilometers is the minimum for a launch to be regarded successful.

According to Korea Times, the South Korean defense officials are purportedly considering the possibility that North Korea will be capable of deploying the SLBMs by the end of this year.

Other sources from the military also said the officials were mistaken regarding their earlier analysis that it would take four to five years for North Korea to fully create SLBMs when it test-fired on May 8 last year. The fist flight stage failed.

Amidst the criticisms directed to the military and intelligence authorities in her government, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye warned on Wednesday that the North's military provocations were becoming evident.

The president mentioned the one-man rule of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who, on Wednesday, announced that the launch was "the greatest success and victory," as reported by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KNCA) on Thursday.

The KCNA also referred to the order of the young leader to boost the efforts of creating transport devices for nuclear weapons.

The interim leader of People's Party, Park Jie Won, said, "Under this circumstance, the government must make sure to analyze information thoroughly, to relieve the people's anxiety by making sure that information is correct, and then bolster national defense, making it ready for any emergency. It is so apparent that the government falsely informed the people concerning the North's SLBMs."

A Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Defense and Security Forum theorized that the SLBMs were "in the final stage of preparation for deployment" along with the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). On June 22, North Korea was successful in launching a Musudan missile.

The President of the Korea Defense Network, Shin In-Kyun, said the SLBMS could be deployed "within a month depending on Kim's wishes." Shin further added, "Our military's analysis on a possible time for deployment of SLBMs was based on a capitalistic way of thinking. It's taken for granted in a capitalist society to let scientists work five days a week, t o have days off on holidays, and to ensure that sophisticated weapons such as the SLBM pose no harm to operators before being deployed. However, North Korea mainly focuses on escalating threats against South Korea and it won't matter if scientists and military officials work 24 hours a day and their health is at risk as long as SLBMs work fine."