A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva, Oct. 2, 2014. Reuters-Yonhap

North Korea questioned whether South Korea's newly unveiled submarine-launched ballistic missile was a real SLBM, Monday, claiming even if it was, it would be nothing more than a "rudimentary, toddling-stage" weapon that cannot serve as an effective means of attack.

The chief of the North's Defense Science Agency made the claim in an article carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), days after South Korea unveiled its first indigenous SLBM by announcing the successful test-launch from the 3,000-ton ROK Navy submarine Dosan Ahn Chang-ho.

"According to the released photos, it had the typical structure and form of a surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile ... and it looks like a somewhat clumsy weapon, which is far from a sea-based one," agency chief Jang Chang-ha said, claiming the pictures could have been photoshopped.

Alleging South Korea seemed to have failed to complete key underwater ejection technologies, Jang noted the missile "cannot be an effective means of attack during wars, and it is not in the stage of being considered as a threatening weapon with strategic and tactical value."

Even if it is an SLBM, Jang said it would be "nothing more than a rudimentary, toddling-stage" weapon.