North Korea conducted a failed rocket launch
TOKYO, March 22 — RIA Novosti, Xenia Naka. North Korea conducted a missile launch from the East coast near the city of Wonsan, said the Agency Kyodo, citing government sources.
The type of missiles is unknown. Presumably, the launch was a failure.
“Apparently, a rocket exploded a few seconds after start-up,” — Reuters quoted the representative of the Pacific command of the United States, which also recorded the start.
In early March, North Korea conducted four launches, one of which fell just 200 kilometers from Akita Prefecture (in the North-West of the main Japanese island of Honshu), the other three 300-500 kilometers away from the Prefecture. The rockets fell at intervals of approximately 80 kilometers, which indicate the potential of attacking multiple targets simultaneously with missiles fired from a single point.
Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe has called the launches a “new threat level” for Japan. Later, North Korea called the launches part of the training division, specializing in the attack on the American bases in Japan. The existence of such divisions caused a shock in Tokyo. Japan does not exclude the introduction of its own new sanctions against the country.
On Sunday, Pyongyang announced successful ground tests of a powerful new rocket engine. DPRK leader Kim Jong-UN called this event “the new birth” of the rocket industry of the country.