North Korea confirms submarine-launched ballistic missile
SEOUL, South Korea _ North Korea confirmed it fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile from waters off its east coast, the official KCNA news agency said Thursday.
The new type of ballistic missile, known as Pukguksong-3, was fired in "vertical mode" from the waters off Wonsan Bay in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, on Wednesday morning, KCNA reported.
The launch followed announcements by the United States and North Korea that they would hold fresh negotiations over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program within a week.
On Wednesday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the missile was launched at 7:11 a.m. local time and flew around 280 miles in an easterly direction, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
The agency cited the body as saying that the projectile reached a maximum altitude of about 565 miles, saying that the missile could have traveled much farther had it been fired at a lower angle.
The Japanese government, which said that a ballistic missile fell into the country's territorial waters, condemned the launch.
"The launch of ballistic missiles violates U.N. Security Council resolutions. We sternly lodge a protest over the launch and strongly condemn it," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters.
_dpa
