North Korea claims 'eye-opening success' of first test-firing of ballistic missile from submarine.

North Korea has boasted of an 'eye-opening success' after the first test-firing of a newly developed ballistic missile from a submarine - although all may not be as it seems.

Dictator Kim Jong Un is said to have personally overseen the test, declaring the so-called success meant the secretive state was now capable 'striking and wiping out in any waters the hostile forces infringing upon the sovereignty and dignity of [North Korea]'.

Security experts say this could be an alarming development as missiles fired from submerged vessels are harder to detect before launch than land-based ones.

However, it may not be as clear cut: previous 'submarine' tests have been conducted from platforms. 

Pictures of the test, published in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, show a delighted Kim smiling broadly in front of what looked like a floating submarine.

Other pictures show him pointing towards the missile, which is emerging from the waves in front of his boat. 

The official Korean Central News Agency said the leader had personally directed the test, and boasted the missile was a 'world-level strategic weapon' and an 'eye-opening success'.

But the report did not reveal where or when the test took place, although there is a suggestion it may have taken place near the coastal city of Sinpo, in the east.

Satellite images have shown North Korea building missile-testing facilities and equipping a submarine with launch capabilities.

South Korea's defense ministry had no immediate comment on North Korea's claim of a successful test. 

However, the U.S. has called on North Korea to not inflame tensions with its neighbour. 

A State Department official would not comment on the reported test but said launches using ballistic missile technology violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.

'We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations,' the official said in an email.

The theory is further backed up by another report in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, which says Kim had visited a fisheries facility in the city at roughly the same time.

North Korea already has a considerable arsenal of land-based ballistic missiles and is also believed to be advancing in efforts to miniaturise nuclear warheads to mount on such missiles, according to South Korean officials.  

 It is thought North Korea has about 70 submarines and appears to be mainly imitating Russian designs in its efforts to develop a system for submarine-launched missiles. 

North Korea is believed to have obtained several of the Soviet Navy's retired Golf-class ballistic missile submarines in the mid-1990s.

Uk Yang, a Seoul-based security expert and an adviser to the South Korean military, said it was unlikely the North currently possess a submarine large enough to carry and fire multiple missiles. 

But he acknowledged it's hard to deny that North Korea is making progress on a dangerous weapons technology.

The website 38 North, operated by the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said in January that such capability posed a potential new threat to South Korea, Japan and U.S. bases in East Asia, although North Korea's submarines tend to be old and would be vulnerable to attack.

There had been expectations that Kim would attend the Victory Day celebration in Russia on Saturday for his international debut, but North Korea has sent to Moscow the head of its rubber-stamp parliament instead. 

Dailymail.