North Korea missile launch appears to have failed
SEOUL, South Korea-- South Korea's Defense Ministry says that aNorth Korean launch of a missile appears to have failed.
CBS News' David Martin reports that the missile failed at the launch point and didn't make it to the Sea of Japan.
The ministry on Friday did not immediately give any other details of the launch, which comes as the two Koreas trade threats amid Pyongyang's anger over annual South Korean-U.S. military drills that North Korea calls a rehearsal for an invasion.
The North has fired a slew of missiles and artillery shells into the sea in an apparent protest against the drills.
Pentagon officials were expecting North Korea to test fire an intermediate-range missile Friday morning, Martin reported.
A senior U.S. defense official said the U.S. Strategic Command systems have detected and tracked what officials assessed as a failed North Korean missile launch.
According to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the missile launched from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America.
"The men and women of USSTRATCOM, NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, and U.S. Pacific Command remain vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and are fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security," a statement from the U.S. military said.
The missile in question is a Musadan, which is road mobile and has enough range to reach the Aleutians and Guam. It's never been tested before, so this was another step toward being able to threaten the U.S. with a nuclear weapon.
Friday, April 15 marks the birthday of Kim Il-sung, the "Great Leader" who ruled North Korea from 1948 until his death in 1994.
On Saturday, North Korea said it had successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic rocket engine that will give it the ability to stage nuclear strikes on the U.S.
The engine's ground test, if true, would be a big step forward for the North's nuclear weapons program, which saw its fourth atomic test earlier this year. But the North may still need a good deal of work before it can hit the U.S. mainland with nuclear missiles.
South Korean officials say North Korea doesn't yet have a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile, let alone the ability to arm it with a nuclear warhead.
The test, announced by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, is only the latest in a string of what Washington and its allies consider North Korean provocations, including last month's launch of a medium-range ballistic missile that violated U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit any ballistic activities by North Korea.
It was the North's first medium-range missile launch since early 2014.