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North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast on Saturday, South Korea said, amid concerns that the isolated state might conduct a nuclear test or a missile launch ahead of a ruling party meeting in May.

[The missile was fired at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (5:30 a.m. ET), South Korean officials said, and appears to have flown about 30 km (about 19 miles) — well short of the 300 km (roughly 186 miles) that would be considered a successful test, CNN reported. North Korean state news agency KCNA claimed the launch was successful, and said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “guided on the spot the underwater test-fire of strategic submarine ballistic missile.”] …

The U.S. Strategic Command said it had detected and tracked a North Korean submarine missile launch but it did not pose a threat to North America.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said launches using ballistic missile technology were “a clear violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.”

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