A suspected powerful midrange North Korean missile crashed seconds after liftoff Thursday, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said, in what would be the second such embarrassing failure in recent weeks.
(FOX)- South Korea’s report of the North’s launch failure is particularly humiliating as it comes ahead of a major ruling party meeting next week in Pyongyang, which leader Kim Jong Un is believed to be looking to as a way to put his stamp more forcefully on a government he inherited after his dictator father’s death in late 2011.
A Defense Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of office rules, said the launch was likely the second attempt for the inaugural test of a Musudan, a new, powerful midrange missile that could one day be capable of reaching far-off U.S. military bases in Asia and the Pacific.
The projectile Thursday crashed a few seconds after liftoff.
The failed launch comes amid Pyongyang’s anger over annual South Korean-U.S. military drills that North Korea calls a rehearsal for an invasion. The North has in recent months fired many missiles and artillery shells into the sea in apparent protests against the drills.