North Korea have test-fired another ballistic missile from a submarine 9 July 2016
- the launch was made in waters east of the Korean peninsula
- South Korea says the launch failed in its initial flight stage
North Korea, believed to be developing nuclear weapons, is banned by the UN from any use of ballistic missiles and this launch come less than three months after another failed attempt.
The launch comes at the end of a week of sharply rising tensions on the peninsula. It is only a day after the U.S. and South Korea pledged to deploy an advanced anti-missile system to counter threats from Pyongyang, and two days after North Korea warned it was planning its toughest response to what it deemed a "declaration of war" by the United States.
That followed Washington's blacklisting of the N.Korean leader Kim Jong Un for alleged human rights abuse.
S.Korean military have issued a statement:
"The SLBM (submarine-launched ballistic missile) was ejected from the submarine normally, but is estimated the initial flight was unsuccessful,"
"Our military strongly denounces such provocative acts by North Korea,"
Japanese PM Abe has since added:
- the launch should be strongly condemned
- Japanese national security not affected
- missile launch a clear challenge to UN resolution
The BBC has more on the on-going scene here
Expect more reaction over the week-end but it shouldn't have too much of a bearing on markets unless the situation escalates further.
