North Korea attempted a missile launch that failed, South Korean officials say.
The launch occurred one day following the 105th birthday of its country’s late founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un. The South Korean military said North Korea attempted to launch the missile near the port city of Sinpo on its east coast on Sunday, local time.
It wasn’t immediately clear what type of missile was launched, but officials told Fox News it was similar to those launched by North Korea in the past.
A statement from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was short and terse.
“The president and his military team are aware of North Korea’s most recent unsuccessful missile launch. The president has no further comment,” he said.
Commander Dave Benham, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command, said the U.S. military tracked the launch.
“U.S. Pacific Command detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean missile launch at 11:21 a.m. Hawaii time April 15. The launch of the ballistic missile occurred near Sinpo,” he said.
“The missile blew up almost immediately. The type of missile is still being assessed,” he added. “U.S. Pacific Command is fully committed to working closely with our allies in the Republic of Korea and in Japan to maintain security.”
A day earlier the North Korean regime paraded intercontinental ballistic missiles in a massive military display in central Pyongyang, with ruler Kim Jong Un looking on.
The launch comes amid rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. An Air Force wing in Japan conducted a surprise military exercise at Kadena Air Base in Japan on Wednesday as North Korea was rumored to be nearing a sixth nuclear weapons test.
North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and about two dozen missile tests in the last year.
The U.S. also deployed the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group to the region. The group of ships, comprising an aircraft carrier, two destroyers and a cruiser.
Trump this week urged Chinese President Xi Jinping, via tweet, to solve the problem of an aggressive North Korea, or else, he said, “we will solve the problem without them!” The two leaders met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida earlier this month.
