S.Korea expects DPRK to conduct nuke, sub-launched missile tests in 2016

South Korea's military on Monday expected the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to attempt a nuclear test and conduct submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) tests next year, Yonhap news agency reported citing a military official.

The official was quoted as saying that Defense Minister Han Min-koo chaired a meeting with major commanders of the military, where Minister Han and other senior military officials shared the expectation.

Such high-level commanders'meeting is held semiannually to share security situations, performance and defense plans. This year's second-half meeting was attended by about 150 military officers.

South Korea's spy agency reported to lawmakers in October that the DPRK's preparations for another nuclear test had been under way though there was no sign of an immediate test.

The DPRK carried out three nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013 respectively. The latest one was staged just two months after launching a three-stage, Unha-3 rocket, which South Korea sees as a long-range ballistic missile, in December 2012.

In May, the DPRK made an official announcement of its successful SLBM test-launch, overseen by top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un. South Korea estimated that Pyongyang conducted another test-launch of the sub-launched missile in late November, believed to have ended up in failure.

The South Korean military plans to maintain defense readiness against possible DPRK nuclear and missile tests as well as strategic and tactical provocations, the official was quoted as saying. Endit