The head of North Korea's defense science agency has cast doubt on South Korea's new submarine-launched ballistic missile, claiming that it cannot serve as an effective means of attack during war.
In an article carried by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency on Monday, Jang Chang-ha called Seoul's first homegrown SLBM "rudimentary" and a "clumsy piece of work" lacking key technology.
His comments came days after Seoul announced the successful test-launch from the 3,000-ton-class Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine, becoming becoming only the seventh country in the world with the technology.
Hours before Seoul conducted that test on Wednesday, Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea.
The North Korean official made clear that his country questions the intention behind South Korea's weapons development.
He stressed that such effort "heralds military tensions on the Korean Peninsula, raises our awareness and lets us clearly know what we need to do."
While seeking international support to promote peace and denculearization on the peninsula, South Korea has been strengthening its military capabilities to counter the threat posed by the
nuclear-armed North.
