A file picture on a North Korean missile mounted on a mobile launcher.[Yonhap News Photo]
North Korea has attempted to launch a Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), but the launch ended in failure, the US Strategic Command said.
"US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) systems detected what we assess was a failed North Korean missile launch" at 12:33 p.m. Saturday (Korean time) near the northwestern city of Kusong, the command said in a statement.
Kusong is near the North's "Dongchang-ri" or "Sohae" missile launch site.
"The missile is presumed to be a Musadan intermediate-range ballistic missile," it said, adding the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America.
"We strongly condemn this and North Korea's other recent missile tests, which violate UN Security Council Resolutions explicitly prohibiting North Korea's launches using ballistic missile technology," Cmdr. Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement.
"This provocation only serves to increase the international community's resolve to counter the DPRK's prohibited activities, including through implementing existing U.N. Security Council sanctions," he said, adding that the US will raise the issue at the Security Council.
The US commitment to South Korea's defense is "ironclad," he said.
"We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its commitments and international obligations," the spokesman said.
(Yonhap)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
