An attempt by the DPRK to launch a missile early morning on Sunday from its east coast failed “almost immediately,” the US Defense Department and South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
According to JCS, the missile was fired off from a land-based launch facility in Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, at around 21:21 GMT on April 15 (05:51 PYT on April 16), the US Pacific Command has also detected and tracked it.
Hours after the missile launch, South Korea’s National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin convened a standing committee session of the National Security Council, where Seoul "strongly condemned" the launch, warning that Pyongyang would face "serious punitive measures" should it conduct a nuclear test or other major strategic provocations.
The new test came a day after Pyongyang held a massive military parade in a show of force to celebrate the 105th birthday of Kim Il Sung, the founding father of the country and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.
DPRK shows off its missiles at a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2017. /VCG Photo
It had been widely suspected that Pyongyang would conduct a nuclear or missile test to mark the “Day of the Sun” on Saturday.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been on the rise after Pyongyang and Washington engaged in an escalating war of words, with the US diverting a fleet of warships to the region and the DPRK threatening of responding “to an all-out war with an all-out war.” US President Donald Trump had said the DPRK issue “would be taken care of."
US Vice President Mike Pence, who is in Seoul as part of a 10-day Asia trip, has been briefed on the “failed missile launch by DPRK” and he has been in touch with Trump.
DPRK missile tests in 2017. /CGTN Photo
It was not immediately clear what type of projectile was launched, but Seoul said it could be the same type as that fired earlier this month.
On April 5, an attempt by Pyonyang to launch what was believed to be a KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile from the Sinpo area was reportedly unsuccessful. The rocket traveled some 60 kilometers before falling into the East Sea.
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