NK missile launch believed a failure
Print Edition
NORTH Korea attempted to fire a missile from its east coast yesterday but the launch appears to have failed, South Korean officials said.
The launch attempt took place around 5:20am, they said.
Tensions have been high in the region since North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and followed that with a satellite launch and test launches of various missiles.
On Monday, Japan put its military on alert for a possible missile launch.
“North Korea shows no sign of abandoning the development of nuclear missiles and so we will continue to work closely with the US and South Korea in response and maintain a close watch,” Japan’s Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani told reporters.
North Korea appeared to have attempted to launch an intermediate-range Musudan missile, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said.
North Korea attempted three test launches of the Musudan in April, all of which failed, US and South Korean officials have said.
Yonhap quoted a South Korean government source as saying the missile was likely to have exploded at about the time it lifted off from a mobile launcher.
China called for the cessation of any action that would exacerbate tension.
“The situation on the peninsula remains complex and sensitive,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a briefing when asked about the launch.
“We think that all sides should avoid any actions that further worsen tensions.”
North Korea’s flurry of weapons technology tests this year came in the run-up to the first congress in 36 years of its ruling Workers’ Party early last month, where Kim Jong Un consolidated his control.
Yesterday’s launch attempt appears to have been its first missile test since then, and experts said it was unusual to test-fire a missile so soon after a failure.
South Korea’s military said the successive tests could stem from Kim’s order in March for further tests of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.
North Korea has never carried out a successful launch of the Musudan missile, which theoretically can reach any part of Japan and the US territory of Guam.
North Korea is believed to have up to 30 Musudan missiles, according to South Korean media, first deployed around 2007.
“It could have cracks and something wrong with the welding,” Lee said of possible causes for the latest failure. “But deployment before test-firing these to complete development seems unusual.”
The attempted launch took place near the east coast city of Wonsan, a South Korean official said, the same site of previous Musudan tests.
Separately, China said diplomat Ri Su Yong, one of North Korea’s highest-profile officials, visited China yesterday, meeting Song Tao, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s international department.
The two expressed a desire to increase cooperation between their parties and work hard to promote regional peace and stability, the department said in a brief statement.
There was no indication of any link with the missile launch.
Ri was foreign minister until he was named a member of the politburo during the recent Workers’ Party congress.
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