Seoul says North Korea's submarine-launched missile test fails

North Korea on Saturday fired what appeared to be submarine-launched ballistic missile off the country's east, South Korea’s military said, in the latest test that’s part of efforts by the North to advance technology capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

The missile was fired from a location near the North Korean coastal town of Sinpo, where analysts have previously detected efforts by the North to develop submarine—launched ballistic missile systems, said an official from Seoul’s Defence Ministry, who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules. He couldn’t immediately confirm how far the missile traveled and where it landed.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it presumed the missile successfully ejected from the submarine’s launch tube, but failed in its early stage of flight. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said that the missile likely flew only a few kms before exploding midair, but the Defence Ministry official couldn’t confirm the report.

North Korea

>last test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile in April 2016 , calling it as a success that strengthened its ability to attack enemies with “dagger of destruction”. South Korean defence officials then said that the missile flew about 30 km before exploding midair.

The North also test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile on December 25, 2015 but that test was seen as failure, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The North first claimed a successful submarine-launched missile test in May 2015.

The latest launch came a day after U.S. and South Korean military officials said they were ready to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defence system in South Korea to cope with North Korean threats.

Seoul and Washington launched formal talks on deploying the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, after North Korea conducted a nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch earlier this year. China, Russia and North Korea all say the THAAD deployment could help U.S. radars spot missiles in their countries.

The deployment decision for THAAD came after North Korea angrily reacted to new U.S. sanctions on leader Kim Jong Un and other top officials for human rights abuses, with Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday saying such measures were tantamount to declaring war.

North Korea has already been sanctioned heavily because of its nuclear weapons programme. However, the action by the Obama administration on Wednesday marked the first time Kim has been personally targeted, and also the first time that any North Korean official has been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury in connection with reports of rights abuses.

The United States stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea.