Defense

North Korea fires missile into waters off east coast

by Rebecca Savransky - 04/04/17 7:26 PM ET

North Korea fired a ballistic missile Tuesday into waters off the peninsula, according to the U.S. military.

The missile, launched from near Sinpo, a port city on the country’s east coast, flew about 40 miles before crashing into the sea, South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, Reuters reported.

U.S. Pacific Command tracked what initial assessments indicated was a medium-range ballistic missile for nearly 10 minutes before it crashed into the sea, spokesman Cmd. Dave Benham said.

{mosads}The spokesman said that U.S. Pacific Command “is fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security.”

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined the missile launch “did not pose a threat to North America,” according to the statement.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement that the U.S. will not make further comment on North Korean missile tests.

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

The act comes ahead of a meeting this week between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump plans to press Xi to take a tougher approach to North Korea’s weapons program, the White House said Tuesday.

Trump will deliver the message to Xi during talks Thursday and Friday at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

“I can tell you that it is now urgent,” a senior White House official said of North Korea during a briefing in advance of Xi’s visit. “The clock has now run out, and all options are on the table for us.”

It was the latest in a series of increasingly dire warnings from the Trump administration about the dangers posed by Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

Updated at 8:42 p.m.

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