US detects 'highly unusual' North Korean submarine activity
Washington (CNN)The US military has detected "highly unusual and unprecedented levels" of North Korean submarine activity and evidence of an "ejection test" in the days following Pyongyang's second intercontinental ballistic missile launch this month, a defense official told CNN on Monday.
An ejection test examines a missile's "cold-launch system," which uses high pressure steam to propel a missile out of the launch canister into the air before its engines ignite. That helps prevent flames and heat from the engine from damaging either the submarine, submersible barge or any nearby equipment used to launch the missile.
Carried out on land at Sinpo Naval Shipyard, Sunday's ejection test is the third time this month -- and fourth this year -- that North Korea has conducted a trial of the missile component that is critical to developing submarine launch capabilities, according to the US defense official.
North Korea tested its longest-ranging missile. Now what?
NORTH KOREA LATEST
- North Korea fired a second long-range, intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday
- Experts believe if the projectile had been fired on a standard trajectory, it could have threatened cities on US mainland
- US President Donald Trump said Saturday that China, North Korea's most important ally, isn't doing enough to rein in its neighbor.
- The US said Sunday it flew stealth bombers over North Korea in response to the test
- Top US official says "time for talk is over"
Coupled with reports of increased submarine activity, news of another ejection test comes amid concerns over North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile that appears to have the range to hit major US cities on Friday.
Experts believe if Friday's test had been fired on a flatter, standard trajectory, it could have threatened cities like Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago.
President Donald Trump told reporters at his second full Cabinet meeting that his administration will be able to take care of North Korea but offered no specifics about what he plans to do.
"We will handle North Korea. We are gonna be able to handle them. It will be handled. We handle everything," Trump said after a reporter asked him about his strategy.
Asked if the US would strike first, Trump's press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that "all options are on the table," adding that Trump would not "broadcast" his decisions.
Democrat Sen. Mark Warner said on "Erin Burnett Out Front" Monday that Trump showed "enormous naiveté" by suggesting the nuclear threat from North Korea could be handled so simply.
Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
North Korean rocket launchers pass through Kim Il Sung square during a July 2013 military parade.
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Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
Trucks carrying what are believed to be KN-08 ballistic missiles in a July 2013 military parade.
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Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
A KN-14 intercontinental ballistic missile is seen in a military parade at Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square in October 2015.
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Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
North Korean mobile rocket launchers are displayed during a mass military parade at Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang on October 10, 2015.
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Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
Trucks transport what appear to be North Korea's Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles at a military parade in Pyongyang on October 10, 2010.
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Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
A North Korean soldier stands guard in front of a military vehicle carrying what is believed to be a Taepodong-class missile during a military parade to mark the 100th birthday of the country's founder Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012.
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Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
At a parade in Pyongyang in July 2013, North Korea shows off the KN-08, which it claims are road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles.
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Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
A North Korean Taepodong-class missile is displayed during a military parade past Kim Il Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27, 2013.
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Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
North Korean rocket launchers pass through Kim Il Sung square during a July 2013 military parade.
Hide Caption
5 of 8
Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
Trucks carrying what are believed to be KN-08 ballistic missiles in a July 2013 military parade.
Hide Caption
6 of 8
Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
A KN-14 intercontinental ballistic missile is seen in a military parade at Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square in October 2015.
Hide Caption
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Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
North Korean mobile rocket launchers are displayed during a mass military parade at Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang on October 10, 2015.
Hide Caption
8 of 8
Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
Trucks transport what appear to be North Korea's Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles at a military parade in Pyongyang on October 10, 2010.
Hide Caption
1 of 8
Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
A North Korean soldier stands guard in front of a military vehicle carrying what is believed to be a Taepodong-class missile during a military parade to mark the 100th birthday of the country's founder Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012.
Hide Caption
2 of 8
Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
At a parade in Pyongyang in July 2013, North Korea shows off the KN-08, which it claims are road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Hide Caption
3 of 8
Photos: North Korea shows off its weapons technology
A North Korean Taepodong-class missile is displayed during a military parade past Kim Il Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27, 2013.
Hide Caption
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North Korea's submarine fleet is believed to encompass about 70 subs, though the majority are quite old and likely cannot fire missiles.
When taken together, these developments are concerning because North Korea says it is trying to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the United States.
Pyongyang has long maintained the ability to legitimately threaten the United States with a nuclear attack is the only way to protect itself against any US-led attempts at regime change.
Land-based and submarine-based missiles are considered two-thirds of what is known as the "Strategic Triad," a theory that a state must have land, air and sea-based nuclear attack capabilities to successfully deter an enemy from trying to attack it.
The current US intelligence assessment is that the missile program aboard submarines remains in the very early stages.
CNN reported earlier this month that North Korea had sent a diesel-powered Romeo Class sub on an unprecedented patrol and had been outfitting its Gorae Sub with a possible missile launch demonstration tube.
Two US defense officials told CNN at the time that the North Korean Romeo-class submarine was engaged in "unusual deployment activity" in the waters off the coast of Japan and was patrolling farther that it has ever gone, sailing some 100 kilometers out to sea in international waters.
The submarine's activity was different than the typical training activity usually observed closer to shore, according to the officials.
North Korea tested its longest-ranging missile ever on Friday. Now what?
That activity caused US and South Korean forces to slightly raise their alert level, according to one official.
The US military pays close attention to North Korean submarine activity following the 2010 Cheonan incident where a North Korean sub torpedoed a South Korean Naval vessel.
Last summer, North Korea conducted what experts believed was its first successful submarine missile test, firing a missile called the the KN-11 or Pukguksong-1.
News Courtesy: www.cnn.com
