North Korea Test-Fired Submarine-Based Ballistic Missile

North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Saturday, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Japan Coast Guard.

• Pyongyang reportedly fired a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) into the East Sea after test-firing another rocket last Wednesday. U.S. State Department warned that North Korea could be preparing its first nuclear test in five years.
• Intensified missile drills come ahead of the inauguration of South Korea's President-in-waiting Yoon, who will take office on Tuesday, with U.S. President Biden expected to visit Seoul just ten days later.
• Sources told Yonhap News Agency that the "North Korean submarine that fired a ballistic missile from underwater Saturday was the one that had to be towed ashore due to an engine problem following an earlier missile test-firing in October last year."
• "Sources said that South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities had detected signs of the North repairing the submarine until recently before the vessel was used in Saturday's SLBM launch," with the vessel surviving the latest launch undamaged.
• North Korea refrained from releasing its usual statement on the latest missile test on Sunday.