Seoul: North Korea's April 23 SLBM launch ended in failure

North Korea made a false claim about the April 23 launch of its submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), multiple government sources in Seoul said Sunday, saying the missile is presumed to have exploded in the air. 
"It is believed that the SLBM that the North launched on the 23rd (of April) from the East Sea flew about 30 kilometers before exploding," (Yonhap) news agency quoted a government source as saying. 
The missile may have split into two to three pieces without any booster separation, the source said. 
"One of the most convincing possibilities is that the North Korean military commanders and missile developers submitted fake reports to their leader Kim Jong-un, alleging the SLBM launch was successful," the source said. 
"The North's SLBMs have not reached the level where they can be deployed to deliver a nuclear bomb," the source added. 
North Korea's media claimed on April 24 that it successfully launched an SLBM the previous day in the presence of leader Kim Jong-un that can greatly advance the fighting capability of its navy. It quoted Kim as saying that with the SLBM launch, the North now possesses a powerful nuclear weapons arsenal and a credible delivery system.

Source: QNA