North Korea fails in new missile test, Seoul says

South Korea defense ministry confirms drill; unclear what type of projectile launched

By AFP 22 March 2017, 5:33 am

Edit

A man watches a TV news program showing an image, published in North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper, of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the country's Sohae launch site, at Seoul Railway station in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A new North Korean missile test failed on Wednesday, the South’s defense ministry said, two weeks after Pyongyang launched four rockets in what it called a drill for an attack on US bases in Japan.

“South Korea and the United States are aware of the North Korean missile launch,” said a spokesman for Seoul’s defense ministry, adding they “suspect it was a failure.”

The ministry did not identify the type of missile used in the test.

Japanese Kyodo news service, citing an unidentified government source, said the North might have launched several missiles Wednesday morning.

The missiles were possibly launched from North Korea’s east, Kyodo’s source said, adding that there was information that the launches were a failure.

Nuclear-armed North Korea launched four ballistic missiles earlier this month, with three landing provocatively close to America’s ally Japan.

The launches come as Seoul and Washington hold large-scale annual joint military exercises that always infuriate Pyongyang, which sees them as a rehearsal for invasion.