The Democratic People's Republic of Korea announced on Sunday that it had successfully launched a ballistic missile from a submarine, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un, who witnessed the test, said that submarine-launched ballistic missiles strengthen the underwater operation capability of the navy and that the military is now capable of attacking Republic of Korea forces and the United States at any time.

He also urged DPRK scientists and technicians to step up the nuclear program in order to launch nuclear attacks on the US and the ROK.

In Seoul, the ROK Foreign Ministry said the launch was in a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and the test-firing came in less than 10 days after the UN urged Pyongyang to exercise restraint following the country's launch on April 15 of a Musudan ballistic missile.

Calling the launch a provocation and threat to peace and security in the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia and the world, the ministry said Seoul will take necessary actions at the UN Security Council in cooperation with major powers.

This is the second time the DPRK has announced the successful firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

On May 9, 2015, the KCNA reported that Kim watched the test-firing of a newly developed submarine-launched ballistic missile and called it "a success".

France said that the launch, if confirmed, would be a new violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

A spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said: "We call on the international community to adopt a firm and united reaction."

"In particular, France calls on the European Union to unilaterally adopt additional sanctions." he said.

Harsher sanctions on the DPRK were adopted in early March by the UN Security Council over the country's fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch, which was condemned as a disguised test of ballistic missile technology, in February.

DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong, in a rare interview with The Associated Press at the UN headquarters in New York on Saturday, said that it was the US that drove his country to the development of nuclear weapons for self-defense.

"If we continue on this path of confrontation, this will lead to very catastrophic results, not only for the two countries but for the entire world as well," he said.

(China Daily 04/25/2016 page13)