Suspected ‘monster missile’ from North Korea bursts in mid-air

            South Korea claimed on Wednesday that North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile that burst in mid-air shortly after launch.

Analysts have cautioned that the failed launch was most likely a test of Pyongyang’s so-called “monster missile”.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul, the suspected ballistic missile “looks to have burst in mid-air shortly after launch”. North Korea’s launch marked the country’s tenth suspected weapons test this year.

South Korea claimed on Wednesday that North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile that burst in mid-air shortly after launch. Analysts have cautioned that the failed launch was most likely a test of Pyongyang’s so-called “monster missile”. The launch took at about 9.30 a.m. local time from the Sunan area of Pyongyang, the same location as the “satellite” tests on February 27 and March 5. North Korea has long desired an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying several warheads. North Korea, which possesses nuclear weapons, has long desired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying multiple warheads. “There are indications that the North tested Hwasong-17 today,” Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the private Sejong Institute, told AFP.