Is US behind failed Pyongyang launch?

At the start of his 10-day trip across Asia, US Vice-President Mike Pence took an unscheduled detour to visit the military demarcation line that separates North and South Korea. Standing near the razorwire-covered border, Pence warned Pyongyang that “the era of strategic patience is over”. Wearing a brown bomber’s jacket and a steely expression, he declared, “President [Donald] Trump has made it clear that the patience of the US and our allies in this region has run out and we want to see change. We want to see North Korea abandon its reckless path of the development of nuclear weapons.”

Although Pence stressed the US wants to see a peaceful resolution to the issue, he starkly warned that North Korea could suffer the same fate as Syria and Afghanistan. Both nations were bombed in April in what many say were thinly veiled warnings to Pyongyang.

Pence’s visit to the zone came a day after the regime suffered epic embarrassment when a test missile exploded seconds after launch. Coming at the end of a week of celebration honouring the 105th birthday of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung, the launch appeared to have been intended as an act of defiance against US warships nearing the Korean peninsula.

Many experts are questioning whether the failed launch was caused by North Korean incompetence or was the result of a US cyberattack. Former British foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind told the BBC there is a strong probability that the US has played a role in North Korean failed test launches several times before.

Pence said he was heartened by early signs from China’s leaders that they would do more to convince North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un to give up his nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. Richmond, Virginia. April 18.