Tokyo: A credible, attempt by North Korea to fire a medium-range ballistic missile on Friday has failed, according
to a defense official and South Korean leaders.
The missile which is launched at 5:33am Korea time, or 20:33GMT on Thursday, is detected and tracked by US military.
A defence official said in a statement that the missile did not pose a threat to North America, it added. “We call again on North Korea to refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations.”
The missile was capable of hitting Guam and the Philippines on Friday to celebrate the 104 th birthday of the late North Korean founder and leader Kim Il Sung.
The Musudan ballistic missile has a range of nearly 2,500 miles, but it has never been tested by North Korea. Now the U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is currently visiting the Philippines to finalize plans to station U.S. troops there for the first time since 1992, when the Subic Bay naval base closed. The U.S. military has moved
thousands of troops onto Guam recently.
April 15 is a national holiday in North Korea, known as “Day of Sun.” Chang Gwang-il, a retired South Korean army general said. “Timing wise, today’s missile was a cannon salute on the Day of the Sun, leading up to the party congress, but now that it has failed, it is an embarrassment.”
Last month, despite claims by North Korea that it fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan. In February, North Korea launched a satellite into space on Super Bowl Sunday in the United States.
In March, the North Korean government released a video depicting a nuclear attack on the US. The four-minute state media video titled “Last Chance” showed a digitally created scene of a missile being fired from a North Korean submarine and wiping out the US capital.