North Korea 'fired missile at Russia before blowing it up mid-flight'
North Korea intentionally blew up its own missile during a test fire on the weekend over fears it had accidentally been fired towards Russia, South Korean media reports.
The Seoul Economy Daily said the rocket made it 48 kilometres from the launch site before North Korea decided to abort.
“If the ballistic missile that flew to the northeastern region had not failed, it would have been heading to a harbour point or a Russian territory,” the paper said.
“It is for this reason that North Korea intentionally destroyed the missile.”
North Korea fired the missile on Saturday, despite repeated warnings from the US to stop its nuclear testing program.
South Korean and US authorities detected the ballistic missile launch but initially believed it had failed in short order.
A source told the paper North Korea’s missile tests usually aimed to land in the ocean. This test, however, fired in the opposite direction.
A ballistic missile entering Russian territory from the Korean peninsula would have the potential to further complicate an already tense diplomatic situation between the US, North Korea, Russia and China.
While US President Donald Trump has talked tough with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, he has also been mired by the situation in Syria and an increasingly complex relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
China has also expressed its concerns about a US missile defence system being rolled out in South Korea in response to North Korea’s repeated missile tests.
Beijing has argued the US could use the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to spy on its territory, however, America continues to push on with the deployment.
"We will resolutely take necessary measures to defend our interests," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said this week.
