US Denies that North Korea Test Fired A Submarine Based Ballistic Missile

I am not surprised by this at all because what appears to be an ejection test does not equal a capable and fielded system:

North Korea did not test fire a ballistic missile from a submarine as Pyongyang claimed over the weekend and the country is still a long way from achieving such a capability, US officials said Monday.

The North’s state media said on Saturday that a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) had been tested but US officials rejected the regime’s account.

“That was not a ballistic missile,” a defense official told AFP.

The official played down the test, saying it did not represent a technical breakthrough for the North.

“They are trying to develop that capability,” but there was no “imminent” threat of a submarine-launched missile arsenal coming on line in North Korea, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pyongyang’s state media said North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un touted the test as an “eye-opening success” that gives his military a “world-level strategic weapon.”

The precise nature of the launch remained unclear. Some analysts suggested the missile might have travelled only a few hundred meters, and that the event did not qualify as a full flight test.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link, but I agree with the South Korean estimate that they will not be able to reliably fire a ballistic missile from a submarine for about five more years.  Even then I think the accuracy and range will not be all that great but enough to target South Korea and Japan.