A U.N. panel plans to investigate whether North Korea’s recent test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile has contravened U.N. Security Council resolutions barring the communist state from any launch using ballistic missile technology.

The UNSC sanctions panel on North Korea unveiled the plan during its regular briefing to the UNSC on Thursday. The move came after Seoul said this week that it had sent a letter to the committee calling for a probe into the North’s SLBM test.

Criticizing Seoul for referring its SLBM test to the committee, Pyongyang has demanded that the UNSC convene an emergency session to discuss the South Korea-U.S. military drills, which it claims have worsened stability on the Korean Peninsula.

In a letter, North Korea’s U.N.-based office said that, should the U.N. panel take issue only with the SLBM test, it would prove that the UNSC is nothing but a “political tool” for the U.S.

“The joint exercise that South Korea and the U.S. conduct is the root cause of the deterioration in the security conditions of the Korean Peninsula,” the letter reads.

The North sent similar letters to the UNSC last July and August. But the issues that the North raised were not discussed at any UNSC session.

There has been a flurry of speculation over the authenticity of the photos that the North released to claim that it “successfully” conducted an underwater ejection test of the SLBM.

Some argue that the photos have been manipulated and that the missile was fired from a submerged barge, not a submarine. But Seoul’s National Intelligence Service said the North did conduct an ejection test of the SLBM.

Irrespective of the speculations, Seoul has argued that any use of a projectile using ballistic missile technology constitutes a violation of UNSC resolutions banning the North’s missile launches.

Pyongyang’s pursuit of SLBM technology has posed a serious security challenge to South Korea and the U.S. as they have no viable means to counter the SLBM threats given that it is difficult to detect deep-water submarine operations.

Seoul believes it would take four to five years for the North to fully develop and deploy a SLBM.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)