Amid mounting tensions South Korea tests ballistic missile shortly after North Korea's

South Korea’s presidential office said it conducted its first underwater-launched ballistic missile test on Wednesday afternoon, and that the domestically built missile, fired from a 3,000-tonne-class submarine, flew a set distance before hitting a designated target.

The statement said the weapon is expected to help South Korea deter potential external threats, boost its self-defence posture and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.

It would make South Korea only the seventh country in the world with the advanced technology and raises the prospect of a regional arms race.

President Moon Jae-in cited the nuclear-armed North’s “asymmetric capabilities” as a reason for South Korea to develop better missiles.

“Enhancing our missile capability is exactly what’s needed as deterrence against North Korea’s provocation,” the leader said.

Later on Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister accused Moon of “slander”, state news agency KCNA reported. Kim Yo Jong said the remarks by the South Korean president were inappropriate and could lead to a breakdown in ties.

Without mentioning the latest launches by the North, Kim Yo Jong said North Korea’s activities were routine defensive measures and complained of an “illogical … foolish attitude” that portrayed South Korean behaviour as a legitimate action to support peace and North Korea’s actions as a threat to peace.

The test followed two short-range North Korean ballistic missile launches detected by South Korea’s military earlier on Wednesday. On Monday, North Korea said it fired a newly developed cruise missile in its first weapons test in six months.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA