N. Korea missile test falls flat

Launch may have been thwarted by cyber attacks

Washington: North Korea launched a missile on Sunday but it blew up almost immediately after its launch, the US military said, a day after Pyongyang warned Washington that it is "prepared to respond to an all-out war with an allout war". On Saturday North Korea had showed off new missiles.

Washington, April 16: North Korea launched a missile on Sunday but it blew up almost immediately after its launch, the US military said, a day after Pyongyang warned Washington that it is “prepared to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war”.

The attempted launch occurred a day after the regime of Kim Jong Un showed off a bevy of new missiles and launchers at a largescale military parade.

“The missile blew up almost immediately. The type of missile is still being assessed,” the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) said in a statement.

The test came just as US Vice-President Mike Pence was headed to South Korea and days after Donald Trump tweeted that the US will “properly deal with” North Korea if it has to.

During a dinner speech in South Korea on Sunday, Mr Pence described the test as a “provocation.”

“This morning’s provocation from the North is just the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face each and every day in the defense of the freedom of the people of South Korea and the defense of America in this part of the world,” he said.

Meanwhile, experts are saying the missile launch may have been thwarted by cyber attacks from the US.

“It could have failed because the system is not competent enough to make it work, but there is a very strong belief that the US — through cyber methods — has been successful on several occasions in interrupting these sorts of tests and making them fail,” former British foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind told the BBC. According to The

Telegraph, experts have suggested that the US may be carrying out “left-of-launch” attacks on the missiles using electromagnetic propagation or cyber attacks, including through infected electronics aboard the weapon that confuse its command and control or targeting systems.

A US foreign policy adviser travelling with Mr Pence said the test had come as no surprise,

The Telegraph reported. “We had good intelligence before the launch and good intelligence after the launch,” the adviser told reporters on condition of anonymity. “It’s a failed test. It follows another failed test. So really no need to reinforce their failure. We don't need to expend any resources against that.”

President Donald Trump, who is at his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida, has been briefed on the latest developments, Jim Mattis, the US defence secretary, said.

Meanwhile, the North Korean state media has made no comment on the launch.