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North Korean Missile Fails on Fourth of July

N. Korea long-range missile fails in test launch

WASHINGTON - A defiant North Korea test-fired a long-range missile Wednesday that may be capable of reaching America, but it failed seconds after launch, U.S. officials said. The North Koreans also tested four shorter range missiles in an exercise the White House called “a provocation” but not an immediate threat.

Ignoring stern U.S. and Japanese warnings, the isolated communist nation carried out the audacious military tests even as the U.S. celebrated the Fourth of July and launched the space shuttle.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported as many as 10 missiles altogether may have been launched, but officials could not confirm that.

None of the missiles made it as far as Japan. The Japanese government said all landed in the Sea of Japan between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

Japan protested the tests and called for a U.N. Security Council meeting. “We will take stern measures,” said chief government spokesman Shinzo Abe, adding that sanctions were a possibility. He said the launch violated a longstanding moratorium, and that Tokyo was not given prior notification by Pyongyang.

The test firings, which are seen as a provocation by the United States and other nations trying to get North Korea to submit to a verifiable nuclear program, occurred as Americans were celebrating Independence Day.

The reclusive communist nation's action came after weeks of speculation that it was preparing to test its Taepodong 2 missile. The preparations prompted warnings from the United States and Japan, which had threatened possible economic sanctions in response.

“North Korea has gone ahead with the launch despite international protest,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said. “That is regrettable from the standpoint of Japan’s security, the stability of international society, and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”

The missiles all landed hundreds of miles away from Japan and there were no reports the missiles caused damage within Japanese territory, Abe said.

North Korea's arsenal . . . A look at some of North Korea’s missiles:—

TAEPODONG-2: Said to be North Korea’s most advanced missile, with a range of up to 9,320 miles. Experts estimate it could potentially hit the mainland United States with a small payload. However, the missile is unlikely to be accurate.—

TAEPODONG-1: North Korea is believed to have test-launched this long-range missile in August 1998. The second stage landed off Japan’s eastern coast. The missile has an estimated range of up to 1,800 miles.—

RODONG: As many as 200 Rodong missiles are in North Korea’s arsenal. With a range of about 620 miles, Japan is their most likely target. The missiles can be fired from mobile launchers.—

SCUD: North Korea reportedly has more than 600 Scud-type missiles that are relatively short-range and would potentially target South Korea.

It was not clear which launch was the long-range missile. The Japanese government was unable to confirm the report by U.S. officials that a Taepodong-2 was fired.

Han Song Ryol, deputy chief of North Korea’s mission to the U.N. in New York, told The Associated Press (American Newspaper) in a telephone interview: “We diplomats do not know what the military is doing.” North Korea’s missile program is based on Scud technology provided by the former Soviet Union or Egypt, according to American and South Korean officials. North Korea started its Rodong-1 missile project in the late 1980s and test-fired the missile for the first time in 1993.