This handout photo taken on Aug 13, 2021 and provided by South Korea's Defense Ministry on Sept 7, 2021 shows the locally-developed, diesel-powered 3,000-tonne Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine during its commissioning ceremony on the southern island of Geoje, South Korea. (HANDOUT / SOUTH KOREAN DEFENSE MINISTRY / AFP)
South Korea has successfully test-launched a missile from a submarine, stepping up its strike capabilities and joining a small list of seven other countries to demonstrate the technology.
South Korea last week fired the missile from its 3,000-ton Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine, a defense ministry official who asked not to be named said Tuesday. The official spoke after Yonhap News reported on the test, citing military sources as saying the country fired off a variant of its Hyunmoo-2B ballistic missile, with a range of about 500 kilometers.
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The defense ministry would not comment on the launch, saying: “We do not confirm individual details of our weaponries for security reasons.”
The test comes after US President Joe Biden and President Moon Jae-in ended bilateral missile guideline in May that had long restricted Seoul’s development of missiles to under the range of 800 kilometers.
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