Anchor: North Korea conducted another test of a new strategic cruise missile on Sunday, just four days after the first test launch of the Pulhwasal-3-31. The launch was supervised by regime leader Kim Jong-un, who stressed the importance of a nuclear weapons capable navy.
Tom McCarthy has the details. 

Report: North Korea on Monday released photos of regime leader Kim Jong-un observing a test launch of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles the previous morning.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) announced on Sunday that the launch was detected from waters off the North’s port city of Sinpo in South Hamgyong Province at around 8 a.m., although the verifiability of Pyongyang's submarine claim is as yet unsubstantiated, with the released photos lacking any indication.

The launch came just four days after North Korea conducted an inaugural test of a new strategic cruise missile, dubbed the “Pulhwasal-3-31.”

The regime’s Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Monday that the launch the previous day was of the same new missile, reporting a flight time of two hours and three minutes and two hours and four minutes before hitting a preset target on an islet in the East Sea.

The report said that the test was conducted under the “wise guidance” of regime leader Kim Jong-un in line with his call for accelerating the nuclear weaponization of the navy in a bid to bolster the state of nuclear deterrence.

The KCNA also said that he inspected the construction of a nuclear submarine and other new types of warships, during which he identified pressing tasks for relevant sectors as well as state measures to be pursued to that end.

On Monday, the JCS said it believes that the details of the flight as claimed by North Korea were exaggerated, owing to the fact that the development of solid fuel is not complete.

Noting that a change in launch platforms requires significant technical supplementation or development, the JCS spokesperson said that Pyongyang’s claim to have adapted the missile for a submarine launch is likely a departure from the truth.
Tom McCarthy, KBS World Radio News.