Seoul: North Korean missile exploded in air in failed launch
Source: AP
By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A North Korean missile fired from its capital region exploded soon after liftoff in an apparent failed weapons launch on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, amid speculation that the North is preparing to launch its longest-range missile in its most significant provocation in years.
Details of the missile explosion and the possibility of civilian damages weren’t immediately known. But the launch, the 10th of its kind this year, shows North Korea is determined to press ahead on its push to modernize its weapons arsenal and pressure its rivals into making concessions amid dormant denuclearization talks.
The North Korean missile blew up while it was flying at an altitude of less than 20 kilometers (12.4 miles), a South Korean military official said requesting anonymity because he wasn’t publicly authorized to speak to media on the issue. He said the cause of the explosion wasn’t known.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier said the launch was made from the Sunan area near Pyongyang, the North’s capital, around 9:30 a.m. (0030 GMT) but gave no other details.
FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends at a meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea on Feb. 28, 2022. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
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