North Korea launches missile but
attempt ends in failure
Unsuccessful testfire in eastern
coastal city comes hours before US vice-president is due to arrive in Seoul
Tom Phillips in Beijing, Justin McCurry in Tokyo and
agencies
Sunday 16 April 2017 04.10 BST First published on Sunday 16
April 2017 00.24 BST
North Korea has defied Donald Trump’s demands for it to
abandon its nuclear and missile programmes, launching a missile from an eastern
port city on Sunday morning.
However, the test appeared to fail. “The missile blew up
almost immediately,” the United States Pacific Command said in a statement.
“The type of missile is still being assessed.” Reuters reported one US official
as saying it was confident the failed projectile was not an intercontinental
ballistic missile (ICBM).
The attempt came hours before US vice-president Mike Pence
was due to arrive in Seoul at the start of a 10-day trip to Asia in what his
aides said was a sign of the US commitment to its ally in the face of rising
tension over North Korea. Both Pence and President Donald Trump have been
notified. The president had no further comment, said defence secretary Jim
Mattis.
South Korea described the launch as a “threat to the entire
world” and warned that it would respond to any further provocations, such as a
nuclear test or the launch of an ICBM.
“North Korea showing a variety of offensive missiles at
yesterday’s military parade and daring to fire a ballistic missile today is a
show of force that threatens the whole world,” South Korea’s foreign ministry
said in a statement.
The missile was launched from the eastern coastal city of
Sinpo, which is the site of a submarine base and where the North has tested the
submarine-launched ballistic missile it is developing. Weapons on submarines
are much harder to track and destroy, and would make it far more challenging
for the US and its allies to mount a pre-emptive strike. However, it is thought
the latest launch was land-based.
A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said: “We are
concerned by reports of a missile test by North Korea and are monitoring the
situation closely.”
The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, urged North Korea to abide
by UN resolutions and end its quest to develop nuclear weapons. “We have been
here before but continue to monitor the situation carefully,” Johnson said in a
statement.
“We stand alongside our international partners in making
clear that North Korea must adhere to UN resolutions designed to secure peace
and stability in the region and stop its pursuit of nuclear weapons.”
Sunday’s missile launch comes a day after a giant military
parade in North Korea’s capital and exactly one year after a similar failure,
when Pyongyang attempted to mark the anniversary of its founder’s birth, Kim
Il-sung, on 15 April, by launching a Musudan missile. North Korea displayed new
long-range missiles that could one day threaten continental America, showcasing
the isolated nation’s defiance as a US aircraft carrier group headed to the
region.
On Sunday, the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling
Workers’ party, issued a special edition to mark the previous day’s
celebrations, and devoted several pages – including dozens of photos – to what
appeared to be new types of strategic weapons, including an ICBM.
Kim Jong-un has overseen three nuclear tests and a string of
missile and rocket launches since taking over after the death of his father,
dictator Kim Jong-il, in late 2011.
Another missile test from Sinpo ended in failured earlier
this month, when the rocket spun out of control and plunged into the ocean.
That launch came shortly before Trump’s first meeting with Chinese leader Xi
Jinping. China is North Korea’s only major ally.
Despite Sunday’s failure, the North’s previous claim to have
used “standardised” warheads has led to worries that it was making headway in
its push to develop small and sophisticated warheads to be topped on long-range
missiles.
John Delury, a North Korea expert from Yonsei University in
Seoul, said the fact that the test had “fizzled” would be a frustration rather
than a major embarrassment to Kim Jong-un.
“Failure is part of the game … They’ve shown they’re not
afraid to test and anyone who follows this knows that the testing will
continue.”
Delury said the message to Trump from Sunday’s launch was:
“We’re not stopping our testing program because you are threatening us”.
“That may be enough of a strong signal from their
perspective for the immediate future,” he added. “One hopes that everyone can
now step back from the cliff and keep face.”
China offered no immediate reaction to the missile launch.
But in a commentary released after Saturday’s military demonstration, Beijing’s
official news agency, Xinhua, said the region had reached “a critical moment in
history” and warned that a pre-emptive US strike could trigger full-scale war.
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