The missile launch is the eighth of its kind this year and the fifth since September. Those projectiles included supersonic missiles, long-range cruise missiles, and KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, which are hard to defend against due to their capability to evade interceptors. On top of that, North Korea has taken a step closer to the development of SLBMs, a game changer. If the North really fired Tuesday’s SLBM from a submarine — instead of from an underwater launching tube — the situation gets more serious. South Korea’s SLBMs without nuclear warheads are totally different from North Korea’s SLBMs loaded with such warheads.
