North Korea tried but failed to launch an intermediate-range missile Friday, the birthday of the country’s founder, Kim Il Sung, the South Korean military said. “North Korea appears to have tried a missile launch from the East Sea [Sea of Japan] area early morning today, but it is presumed to have failed,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The missile appeared to be a Musudan, also known as a BM-25, the Joint Chiefs said.
South Korea warned Thursday that it had spotted a mobile launcher carrying one or two Musudan ballistic missiles near Wonsan on North Korea’s east coast.A U.S. defense official said that the missile launched was “detected and tracked” by U.S. Strategic Command systems. “We assess that the launch failed,” he said. FULL REPORT
