Dailly Mail:
North Korea appears to be preparing a test-launch of a ballistic missile with a range of more than 1,800 miles, it was reported today.
The Musudan missile, which can be fired from a mobile launcher, is not known to have been successfully flight-tested.
Its first test-launch on April 15 was described by the United States as a ‘fiery, catastrophic’ failure.
With a range of more than 1,800 miles, it could, if launched successfully, hit Japan and also theoretically put the U.S. territory of Guam within range.
North Korea tested its fourth nuclear bomb on January 6 and launched a long-range rocket on February 7, both in defiance of U.N. resolutions.
The North on Saturday conducted a test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
‘There are indications that the North may fire a Musudan missile that it launched and failed on Kim Il Sung’s birthday on April 15,’ Yonhap quoted an unnamed government official as saying.
Kim Il Sung is the North’s founder.
North and South Korea remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, rather than a treaty.
The North, whose lone major ally is neighbour China, routinely threatens to destroy South Korea and its major ally, the United States.
The April 15 failure was seen as an embarrassing blow for current leader Kim Jong Un, Kim Il Sung’s grandson, who has claimed several advances in weapons technology in recent months and is widely expected to conduct a fifth nuclear test soon.
South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun declined to confirm the Yonhap report but said the North’s military would likely spend some time trying to fix the problem following the failed launch.
Experts see North Korea’s Musudan test as part of an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach the mainland United States.
