I am not surprised by this at all because what appears to be an ejection test does not equal a capable and fielded system:

North Korea did not test fire a ballistic missile from a submarine as Pyongyang claimed over the weekend and the country is still a long way from achieving such a capability, US officials said Monday.

The North’s state media said on Saturday that a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) had been tested but US officials rejected the regime’s account.

“That was not a ballistic missile,” a defense official told AFP.

The official played down the test, saying it did not represent a technical breakthrough for the North.

“They are trying to develop that capability,” but there was no “imminent” threat of a submarine-launched missile arsenal coming on line in North Korea, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pyongyang’s state media said North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un touted the test as an “eye-opening success” that gives his military a “world-level strategic weapon.”

The precise nature of the launch remained unclear. Some analysts suggested the missile might have travelled only a few hundred meters, and that the event did not qualify as a full flight test.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link, but I agree with the South Korean estimate that they will not be able to reliably fire a ballistic missile from a submarine for about five more years.  Even then I think the accuracy and range will not be all that great but enough to target South Korea and Japan.

Via a reader tip comes news that the North Korean general who masterminded the sinking of the Cheonan that leftists still believe was not executed by North Korea has died:

A powerful North Korean general who Seoul believes was behind the sinking of a South Korean warship and the shelling of one of its islands in 2010 has died, state media said Monday.

Kim Kyok-Sik died on Sunday of respiratory failure while suffering from an unidentified type of cancer, according to Rodong Shinmun, the newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party. He was 77.

“The comrade served in very important positions… in the military for a long time, making great contributions to firmly protect our socialist motherland,” it said.

The four-star general was named by South Korea as being the operational commander behind the sinking of the Cheonan navy corvette in March 2010 and the shelling eight months later of the border island of Yeonpyeong.

A South Korean-led investigation involving a team of international experts concluded the Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean submarine torpedo and Seoul cut trade and aid links to Pyongyang in response. [AFP]

You can read the rest at the link.

Kim Jong-un has another member to add to his fan club:

Yes! I’m very excited about North Korea. If I could put all of my money into North Korea, I would. Massive changes are taking place there. I would not have invested in Kim Jong Un’s father or grandfather by any stretch of the imagination, but that’s like saying that in 1980 you shouldn’t invest in China because of Mao Zedong.

Mao was dead and Deng Xiaoping was making huge changes. They are making huge changes in North Korea. The kid is making astonishing changes.  [CNN Money]

I am sure that if Jim Rogers wants to put all his money in North Korea, the Kim regime would be more than happy to take it all from him.

Anyway here is another interesting thing that Rogers said that has a grain of truth to it:

When I go to New York I’m so happy that I live in Asia. New York is a third world city, with a third world airport and a third world tax.

Living in Singapore compared to living in New York? Living in Hong Kong compared to Chicago? No I don’t miss it. I’m still an American citizen, an American taxpayer, an American voter, but I’m glad I live here in Asia.

China tops US as biggest oil importer—and inherits loads of Mideast headaches. @KFJ_FP reports http://t.co/lAKKgI9mbi pic.twitter.com/ORY1AYzDMX

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) May 11, 2015

In this March 26, 2015 photo, taken by Google Earth, a 550-meter-long, 15-meter-wide runway for light planes lies parallel to an existing train station for only North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’ s use, located near his cottage in Wonsan on the North’s east coast. The Washington-based Radio Free Asia reported on May 8, 2015, that the runway’s construction has been completed. (Yonhap)

That is what this Voice of America article brings up:

South Korean officials Monday outlined their worries about North Korea’s first test missile launch from a submarine. Although the test does not immediately change the military status quo on the Korean peninsula, it shows Pyongyang is working on a difficult-to-detect missile system that could become capable of threatening countries around the world.

South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok confirmed that North Korea did test-fire an underwater ballistic missile on May 8. He called the test a serious and great concern and urged Pyongyang to immediately stop further development of this weapon. But the defense ministry spokesman also said the test indicates North Korea is years away from deploying this enhanced capability.

He said the ministry’s view is that North Korea’s test-fire this time shows it is in the early stage of development of a submarine launched ballistic missile program. According to the cases of advanced countries, he said, it takes about four to five years after the underwater test to complete the development of the system.

Still, the fact that Pyongyang is on a trajectory to develop a submarine based missile system means it could develop the capability to strike anywhere in the world, including the mainland of the United States.

This new capability would make less effective South Korea’s current Kill Chain missile system, intended to target and destroy North Korean missile launch sites.

The increased North Korean threat could trigger a new arms race on the Korean peninsula. It could also be used to justify the deployment of the United States anti-ballistic missile system called THAAD. Seoul had been reluctant to accept THAAD in part because China opposes its deployment.  [Voice of America]

You can read more at the link, but since the development of an actual working missile launched from a submarine is years away I don’t think this gives the ROK the cover it needs to allow the US to deploy THAAD to Korea against China’s wishes.

The average apartment prices in Seoul are actually not as expensive as I was expecting, but they are still pretty high:

Apartment prices in Seoul are expected to surpass 500 million won this month.

According to Kookmin Bank’s housing prices data, the average sale price of apartments in Seoul came to 499-point-nine million won as of the end of last month.

The average sale price of apartments in Seoul marked 489 million won in April 2013 and stayed below 500 million won for the past two years, but it is moving upward recently.

The steady rise in the apartment price is attributed to a surge in prices of jeonse, or deposit-based long-term rentals. [KBS World]

It looks like the Kim regime has found another way to bring in hard currency:

A Chinese province bordering North Korea will kick off its first four-day train tour to the reclusive state later this month, according to China’s state media on Saturday, joining other border regions that have begun train tours to the North.

The tour will take Chinese tourists to North Korea’s capital of Pyongyang from the Chinese border city of Dandong on May 26, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported, citing a tour agency in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning.

The report is the latest sign that North Korea has approved more cross-border tours for Chinese tourists to earn hard currency since it lifted travel restrictions imposed due to concerns over the Ebola virus.

During the four-day tour, Chinese tourists will also visit the southern border city of Kaesong, Mt. Myohyang and the truce village of Panmunjom, which sits in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas, according to the report.

The trip costs from 2,000 yuan (US$321.90) to 3,000 yuan, the report said, without elaborating.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but I think it is safe to say that the North Koreans will not be detaining or shooting these tourists.

Thinking of getting a pet in Seoul? Try here first. #dontbuyadopt #사지말고입양 pic.twitter.com/GnbGYVOvZ4

— Alastair Gale (@AlastairGale) May 10, 2015

This image released by North Korea’s Rodong Shinmun shows what Pyeongyang claims to be a ballistic missile being launched from a submarine in waters near the northeast coast of Sinpo on May 9, 2015. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the North’s state media, said the communist state successfully test-fired the submarine missile. (Yonhap)