North Korea fails to launch suspected ballistic missile

North Korea fired an “unknown projectile” yesterday, which reportedly appeared to fail immediately after it was launched. The United States’ military’s Indo-Pacific Command claimed it was part of a ballistic missile launch. The command did not mention the reported failure, but condemned the launch. It urged North Korea to refrain from further “destabilising” actions.

South Korean media reported that disbris fell in or near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, according to unnamed witnesses. The media showed a photograph of red smoke at the end of a rocket in the sky. One fellow at a United States peace organisation said the report was concerning due to how close the rocket was to civilians.

“The report of a failure from Sunan is concerning because of the possibility of damage to heavily populated civilian areas”.

North Korea has fired missiles at an unprecedented frequency this year. The United States, South Korea, and Japan condemned North Korea’s ninth weapons test earlier this month. Last week, the United States and 10 other countries complained of the UN Security Council’s failure to condemn North Korea’s repeated missile launches.

The United States and South Korea have warned that North Korea may be preparing to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at full range for the first time since 2017.

North Korea’s nuclear weapons program was a heated subject in South Korea’s presidential election last week. While the country’s liberal candidate advocated for mediation with North Korea with help from the United States, the conservative candidate advocated for dealing with North Korea toughly. The conservative candidate, Yoon Suk Yeol, won the election by less than 1%.

Like the United States’ command, Japan’s Ministry of Defence also called the projectile yesterday a potential ballistic missile, according to Japanese media.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World