More Details on Failed North Korean Missile Test

Final technical analyses have shown that North Korea’s July attempt to launch a long-range missile failed rapidly after a major malfunction, Korea Times reported Sunday (see GSN, Sept 8).

“The Taepodong 2 was confirmed to have crashed into a beach on the east coast about 2 kilometers from the launch site in North Hamkyong Province, after traveling for 40 seconds,” said South Korean Maj. Gen. Park Soo-keun, chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s defense analysis bureau.

The missile suffered a “serious technical problem,” he said.

Six other missiles launched the same day, three intermediate-range Nodongs and three short-range Scuds, were successfully launched, traveling as far as 400 kilometers, Park said (Jung Sung-ki, Korea Times, Sept. 17).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.