SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday it had successfully test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine, a step that would mark significant progress in the secretive state's military capabilities.

It could pose a new threat to South Korea, Japan and the United States, which have tried to contain North Korea's growing nuclear and missile strength, military experts said.



The North's leader, Kim Jong Un, oversaw the test-launch from an offshore location as the submarine dived and "a ballistic missile surfaced from the sea and soared into the air, leaving a fiery trail of blaze," the official KCNA news agency said.

"Through the test, it was verified and confirmed that the underwater ballistic missile launch from a strategic submarine fully achieved the latest military, scientific and technical requirements."

The United States would not comment on the reported test but said launches using ballistic missile technology were a "clear violation" of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

ADVANCED CAPABILITIES

The test, if verified, would mean North Korea can move its missiles within range of the United States, said Korea analyst Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

A South Korean military expert who saw still photos of the launch in the North's media said they appeared to show a ballistic missile being fired from a submarine in a "cold launch" through an ejection mechanism, a key element in a submarine launch system.

"The potential of this is that existing missile defense against the North can be rendered useless," said Shin In-kyun, who runs the Korea Defense Network, an independent forum.

Such missile defense systems are positioned to look at the North, not at "submarines that could be south of Jeju or near Guam". Jeju is a South Korean island.

South Korea did not have an immediate comment on the report on the submarine launch.

MILITARY BOASTS

In January, Johns Hopkins University's U.S.-Korea Institute said on its website, 38 North, that satellite imagery showed possible evidence of work on vertical launch tubes on a submarine that could be for ballistic missiles.

The vessel could serve "as an experimental test bed for land-attack submarines", it said, although it cautioned such a test would be expensive and time-consuming "with no guarantee of success".

North Korea's state media often boasts of successful military and space accomplishments, including the launch of a functional communications satellite, which are not independently verified by outside experts.

It is believed to have launched a long-range rocket and put an object into orbit in December 2012, defying scepticism and international warnings not to pursue such a program, which could be used to develop intercontinental missiles.

South Korea's military said later on Saturday the North had fired three land-based cruise missiles from a separate location on its east coast into the sea with a range of about 120 km (70 miles).

The North has an arsenal of land-based ballistic missiles and last test-fired a mid-range missile in March last year, drawing further condemnation from the international community

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