North Korea continues to embarrass itself before the international community by launching another missile on Saturday morning. Like its eight previous tries for 2017, the latest fire was another dud as it exploded seconds after the missile was fired.
The New York Post reported that the missile was launched from Bukchang in Pyeongannam-do. The missile was aimed in the northeastern direction at around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
New pressure on North Korea
Before the ninth failed missile launch attempt of North Korea, U.S.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned the UN Security Council to take the growing nuclear threat from North Korea seriously. Otherwise, ignoring the treats could lead to catastrophic consequences.
He pushed for all allied nations to place a new pressure on Pyongyang to abandon the dangerous path it is taking, particularly making missile test launches. It could be done by imposing sanctions that would badly hurt the North Korean economy and stop diplomatic relations with the communist state.
Before his UN Security Council talk, Tillerson claimed that China, the main source of fuel and food for North Korea, threatened to impose unilateral action against Pyongyang. However, China did not confirm Tillerson’s claim.
THAAD to be operational in coming days
Meanwhile, amid China’s protest, the U.S. started to deliver a missile defense system to South Korea on Wednesday. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system would be operational in the coming days, Admiral Harry Harris Jr., U.S. Pacific commander, told the U.S. Congress. It is situated on a former golf course in Seongiu, located 155 miles south of Seoul.
Harris said the Thaad and the USS Michigan nuclear submarine, docked in South Korea since Tuesday with 154 cruise missiles, could thwart any missile attack by North Korea on American naval forces. He pointed out that the weapons which Pyongyang would put against the Carl Vinson strike group are easily defended by the capabilities found in the strike group.
Harris said if the missile that North Korea would fly, it would die if the rocket flies against the Carl Vinson strike group.
Geng Shuang, the spokesman of China’s Foreign Ministry, said China urges the U.S. and South Korea to halt actions that worsen the tensions in the region and harm the strategic security interests of Beijing. He urged Washington to cancel the THAAD system deployment and withdraw the equipment.
Despite the ninth failed attempt since January by Pyongyang to launch a missile to reach the U.S., Harris said he expects North Korea to succeed eventually. The admiral noted that light bulb inventor Thomas Edison, according to anecdotes, did not succeed 1,000 times before he got the electric light bulb to work. Harris believes the North Korean leader would eventually manage to firing a missile that would reach the U.S. one day.
