On Wednesday’s SLBM launch by North Korea, Takushoku University Korea specialist Takesada said on an NHK program on Wednesday evening that the test appeared to be a success as the missile flew over 500 km. Calling SLBMs the “ultimate nuclear force” on account of the extremely sophisticated technology involved, the professor explained that Washington must be deeply alarmed by the growing possibility of Pyongyang eventually possessing advanced expertise to deliver submarine launched nuclear missiles to the U.S. mainland. Projecting that the latest DPRK provocation will prompt Seoul to increase its missile defense cooperation with Washington, Kwansei Gakuin University scholar Hiraiwa noted that the launch was perhaps timed to coincide with the tripartite foreign ministerial meeting by Japan, China, and the ROK to cause disarray among them by inducing Beijing to step up its opposition to the U.S. military’s planned THAAD deployment in South Korea.