North Korea launched a missile and hit one of its own cities by mistake, according to a recent report by The Diplomat.
On April 28, 2017, North Korea reportedly launched a single Hwasong-12/KN-17 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) from Pukchang Airfield in South Pyongan Province that failed shortly after launch and crashed into the city of Tokchon.
“According to a U.S. government source with knowledge of North Korea’s weapons programs who spoke to The Diplomat, the missile’s first stage engines failed after approximately one minute of powered flight, resulting in catastrophic failure,” The Diplomat reports. “The missile never flew higher than approximately 70 kilometers. The location of the missile’s eventual impact was revealed exclusively to The Diplomat and evidence of the incident can be independently corroborated in commercially available satellite imagery from April and May 2017.”
Using images from Google Earth and evidence from a slideshow put together by the North Korean regime detailing the history of its ballistic missile program, it was revealed that the missile crashed into the city of Tokchon and caused considerable damage to an industrial complex.
It is unknown whether there were any casualties.
All that was before known about the April 28 launch was that a KN-17 failed in flight, the third failed launch of that month.
North Korea launched its first successful KN-17 over the Sea of Japan two weeks later on May 14.
The rogue regime conducted two successful intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July, said to be capable of striking the U.S. mainland.
After it was revealed in August that North Korea had successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that could fit inside its missiles, Trump threatened that any other further provocations by the regime would be met with “fire and fury.”
U.S. officials believe North Korea may be preparing for another missile test "in the coming days,” NBC News reported Tuesday.
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