North Korea recently tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, and it is evaluated that it has the ability to conduct additional tests at any time in the future.

On the 21st (local time), the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)'s North Korea site 'Beyond the Division' (Beyond Parallel) made this assessment while analyzing satellite images around the Sinpo Shipyard on the 20th.

Earlier, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on the morning of the 19th (Korean time) that a ballistic missile, presumed to be a SLBM, was detected as being launched into the East Sea from the sea east of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province.

In this regard, the next day, North Korea announced that it had test-fired a new SLBM from the submarine 'August 24 Heroes'.

"Beyond division," he said, North Korea has the capability and resources to conduct additional SLBM tests or launch its first truly true ballistic missile submarines (SSBs) within a short period of time if Chairman Kim Jong-un decides at any time he chooses. .

In addition, it is believed that the submarine that North Korea used as a platform for this SLBM test launch was the existing Whale-class (2,000-ton) submarine that launched the Pukguksong-1 in 2016, five years ago.

An urgent question that comes to the minds of many North Korean analysts in 'Beyond Division' is that North Korea did not launch its first SSB, which they expected so much, he said.

It is known that North Korea has reached the final stage of construction of a new 3,000-ton class submarine.

However, looking at the satellite imagery used in this analysis, 'Beyond the division', as in most previous SLBM tests, there was no significant activity suggestive of recent SLBM tests.

A barge equipped with a missile launcher is moored where it normally used to be, and the 8·24 Heroes are also under the screen where they were originally located.

This is a satellite picture taken the day after launch, which shows the possibility that the submarines and equipment mobilized for the test have already returned to their original positions.

On the other hand, 38 North, a North Korean media outlet, gave a different interpretation that there are circumstances suggesting that the submarine participated in the recent SLBM launch through satellite image analysis.

A long, brightly colored object, similar in size to a mobile crane observed when preparing for a launch test using the submarine in the past, was seen next to the submarine. Mobile cranes are used to load missiles into the launch tubes of submarines.

38 North believes the object may be a missile storage box.

"If the object is identified as a crane or missile storage box, it strongly suggests that there was a missile loading activity, which shows that the submarine was actually used as a platform for launching SLBMs," he said.

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