It looks like the North Koreans blew themselves up again:
A North Korean missile fired Wednesday exploded “within seconds of launch,” according to US Pacific Command.
US officials confirmed North Korea had attempted to launch a missile near Kalma, on the country’s east coast, but early reports suggest it failed.
“South Korea and the US are aware of the missile launch and to their knowledge North Korea’s missile was not successfully launched,” South Korea’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Neither the US nor South Korea have released information on what type of missile was fired, or why it failed. The US Pacific Command said it was working with partners to assess it further. [CNN]
You can read more at the link, but no word on what type of missile this was yet. Considering that the missile failed it makes me wonder if it was yet another Musudan test?
It appears to me that the Trump administration’s get tough on North Korea policy that includes increased emphasis on military strike rhetoric is aimed more at China than North Korea. Tillerson seems to be basically signaling to the Chinese that if they don’t enforce stronger sanctions and reign in North Korea then the US will by military means:
In a press conference in Seoul, Tillerson declared the end of former U.S. President Barack Obama’s “strategic patience” policy and signaled a sharp turn toward a tougher policy involving ramped-up sanctions, pressure and even military actions.
“The policy of strategic patience has ended,” he said. “We are exploring a new range of diplomatic, security and economic measures. All options are on the table.”
Tillerson said that military measures could be one option if the threat from the North gets too high.
He also ruled out the possibility of any immediate negotiations. He noted that conditions are “not ripe” for any talks with the North, while calling on China to do more to induce a meaningful change in its behavior.
In Tokyo, he emphasized the need for a “new approach” after the failure of the past two decades of talks and aid to the North on hopes that it will take the path to denuclearization.
He didn’t provide details but provided a glimpse into what appears to be the Trump administration’s new policy toward the recalcitrant North, experts said.
Wang, meanwhile, hinted that China doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the U.S. on how to deal with the North. He said that diplomacy should be pursued and called for the resumption of the long-suspended six-party denuclearization talks. [Yonhap]
There doesn’t seem to be much details about what is new about this rocket engine. My guess would be it is using solid and instead of liquid fuel which means it is easier to hide the missiles and quickly fire them:
North Korea claimed it successfully tested a powerful new rocket engine on Sunday, signaling defiance as the U.S. secretary of state visited China.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed the test of a new high-thrust engine at dawn at the Sohae satellite launching pad, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
It quoted him as saying the test “declared a new birth of the Juche-based rocket industry.” Juche, or self-reliance, refers to the communist state’s official ideology.
The test occurred as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was due to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Tillerson is pushing for closer China-U.S. cooperation on dealing with the growing threat from North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
China was the last stop on his three-country tour that also took him to South Korea and Japan.
Tillerson has suggested President Donald Trump’s administration may adopt a tougher strategy toward the North. In Seoul, he warned that the U.S. would consider pre-emptive military action if the threat reaches a level “that we believe requires action.”
KCNA said the “Korean-style” engine was developed by the Academy of the National Defense Science. [Stars & Stripes]
This makes me wonder if this how the Kim regime plans to welcome whoever the next ROK President is, with a nuclear test?:
North Korea is continuing to excavate a tunnel at its nuclear test site, which may support an explosion up to 14 times more powerful than its last test, according to U.S. analysts Saturday.
Satellite imagery of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the northeast shows that substantial tunnel excavation is continuing at the North Portal, where the last four of the five underground nuclear tests by the North were conducted, according to the analysis posted at 38 North, a website run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.
“The continued tunneling under Mt. Mantap via the North Portal has the potential for allowing North Korea to support additional underground nuclear tests of significantly higher explosive yields, perhaps up to 282 kilotons (or just above a quarter of a megaton),” said the article written by analysts Frank Pabian, a Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) fellow, and David Coblentz, an earth and environmental science expert at Los Alamos National Laboratory. [Yonhap]
This photo, released by North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper on March 7, 2017, shows four ballistic missiles being fired during a drill at the Hwasong artillery units of the North Korean Army’s Strategic Force. The paper, published by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, said the North’s top leader Kim Jong-un inspected the drill. North Korea on the previous day fired four ballistic missiles from an area near Tongchang-ri in northwest North Korea. They flew as far as 1,000 kilometers before landing within or very close to Japan’s exclusive economic zone. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
It appears that the family of the assassinated Kim Jong-nam are in deep hiding, but the eldest child Kim Han-sol has released a Youtube video thanking China, the US and the Netherlands for their assistance:
Kim Han-sol
Kim Han-sol, the eldest son of Kim Jong-nam, who was assassinated last month at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, delivered a message in a video posted online. It appeared that he, his mother and sister were being sheltered or otherwise aided by China, the U.S. and the Netherlands.
“My name is Kim Han-sol. I am from North Korea,” says the young man in the video, who calls himself, “part of the Kim family,” referring to the dynasty that has ruled North Korea with an iron fist for three generations, starting from his grandfather Kim Il Sung, the state’s founder, in 1948.
The man in the video is highly likely to be Kim Han-sol, who gave a TV interview in 2012 to Elisabeth Rehn, a former lawmaker and minister of defense in Finland. In the 2012 interview, he called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a “dictator.”
To prove his identity, the man shows a North Korean diplomatic passport, but when he opens it to show its identification page, the image is blacked out on camera.
“My father has been killed a few days ago I am currently with my mother and sister,” said Kim. “And we are very grateful to …” The rest of that sentence is cut off.
At the end of the 40-second video, Kim said, “We hope this will get better soon.”
Kim does not reveal his location nor the filming date. A group called Cheollima Civil Defense uploaded the video at around 7 a.m. Wednesday on YouTube. Cheollima in Korean means a horse that can travel up to 400 kilometers (248 miles) a day. A message below the clip reads in Korean: “To the people of North Korea.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
