N.Korea says its SLBM test-launch not targeting US

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N. Korea confirms test-launch of new SLBM In this photo released Oct. 20, 2021, by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, a new type of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is test-fired from waters the previous day. The South Korean military said on Oct. 19 that North Korea fired what appears to be an SLBM toward the East Sea from waters east of Sinpo, a city on the North's east coast. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution).

Seoul, (Asian independent) North Korea said on Thursday that its recent test-firing of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) was not targeted toward the US, adding there is no need for Washington to “worry” over it.

A spokesperson for the North’s foreign ministry expressed concerns over what it called “abnormal” reactions from the US and the UN Security Council as they convened an emergency meeting on its “rightful exercise of right to defence,” Yonhap news reported, citing the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Two days earlier, North Korea fired an SLBM from the vicinity of Sinpo, where its main submarine shipyard is located. It marked the North’s eighth known major missile test this year.

“To criticise the DPRK for developing and test-firing the same weapon system as the one the US possesses or is developing is a clear expression of double-standards and it only excites our suspicion about the ‘authenticity’ of its statement that it does not antagonize the DPRK,” the spokesperson said.

DPRK stands for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.