North Korea launched a ballistic missile early on Sunday but it exploded almost immediately, an embarrassing failure that came a day after Pyongyang displayed several new missiles for the first time in a military parade.
According to senior US officials, the missile was launched at 6.21am local time and blew up “about four or five seconds” afterwards. The failure came as Kim Jong Un, the North Korean dictator, was celebrating the 105th anniversary of the birth of his grandfather, the late Kim Il Sung who founded the nation.
“The president and his military team are aware of North Korea’s most recent unsuccessful missile launch,” said James Mattis, the US defence secretary. “The president has no further comment.”