The wreckage of North Korea's long-range rocket fired in February.[Yonhap News Photo]
North Korea carried out the second test of a suspected medium-range ballistic missile for two weeks Thursday, but it apparently failed because the missile disappeared just several seconds after its launch, South Korean military authorities said.
A US surveillance satellite detected the launch at 6:40 am from a base near the northeastern port city of Wonsan where North Korea used to have tested different types of ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), the South's defense ministry said.
It appeared to have crashed into a coastal area, the ministry said, adding the missile was seen as the same type which was fired on April 15 marking the birthday of the North's founder and grandfather of leader Kim Jong-un but exploded in the air.
At the base near Wonsan, Pyongyang had deployed two Musudan mid-range missiles loaded onto a mobile launcher called TEL (transporter-erector-launcher).
The Musudan with an estimated range of more than 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) could reach as far as Guam. It was first revealed to the international community in a military parade in 2010. There has been no indication that the missile system was operational.
The exercise came amid growing concern about North Korea's mobile launch system. In April 2013, US intelligence detected North Korean troops setting up Musudan erector platforms at various locations on multiple occasions, but no launches took place.
North Korea has pushed for the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying a miniaturized nuclear warhead. Mobile long-range systems are of particular concern if North Korea succeeds in miniaturizing an atomic bomb.
Pyongyang claimed to have conducted a successful SLBM (submarine-launched ballistic missile) test from a strategic submarine in a launch last Saturday. Military officials in Seoul said the missile flew just about 30 kilometers indicating the test probably had failed
The North's nuclear and long-range rocket tests this year triggered tough UN sanctions, but Kim Jong-un has vowed to step up the development of atomic bombs and missiles.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
