North Korea fires a ballistic missile as Trump prepares to host China’s Xi

North Korea fired another ballistic missile Wednesday morning, apparently testing a land-based version of its rocket that can be fired from a submarine, in a development that nonproliferation experts called “scary.”

The launch comes days after Pyongyang said it planned to mark two key anniversaries this month as “big” political events and days before President Trump meets with China’s Xi Jinping — with North Korea at the top of the agenda.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued a terse statement after the launch.

“North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile,” he said in the statement. “The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment.”

South Korean and American military officials said that the medium-range missile was fired from a land base near the east coast port of Sinpo, home to a known North Korean submarine base.

In August, North Korea made a major technological breakthrough by launching a ballistic missile from a submarine near Sinpo. It flew about 300 miles before falling into the sea inside Japan’s air defense identification zone, the area in which Tokyo controls aircraft movement. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un boasted about the launch, describing it as “the greatest success.”

 

Read the whole story from The Washington Post.

Featured image courtesy of CNN.