N. Korean missile test fails after UN meeting on nukes
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch yesterday, South Korea and the United States said, the third test-fire flop just this month but a clear message of defiance as a US supercarrier conducts drills in nearby waters.
North Korean ballistic missile tests are banned by the United Nations because they're seen as part of the North's push for a nuclear-tipped missile that can hit the US mainland. The latest test came as US officials pivoted from a hard line to diplomacy at the UN in an effort to address what may be Washington's most pressing foreign policy challenge.
President Donald Trump said on Twitter, "North Korea disrespected the wishes of China and its highly respected president when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad!" He did not answer reporters' questions about the missile launch upon returning to the White House from a day trip to Atlanta.
North Korea didn't immediately comment on the launch, though its state media yesterday reiterated the country's goal of being able to strike the continental US.
The timing of the North's test was striking: Only hours earlier the UN Security Council held a ministerial meeting on Pyongyang's escalating weapons program. North Korean officials boycotted the meeting, which was chaired by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missile flew for several minutes and reached a maximum height of 71 kilometers (44 miles) before it apparently failed.AUS official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said it was likely a medium-range KN-17 ballistic missile. It broke up a few minutes after the launch.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, speaking after a meeting of Japan's National Security Council, said the missile is believed to have traveled about 50 kilometers (30 miles) and fallen on an inland part of North Korea.
Analysts say the KN-17 is a new Scud-type missile developed by North Korea. The North fired the same type of missile April 16, just a day after a massive military parade where it showed off its expanding missile arsenal, but US officials called that launch a failure.