ROK says DPRK seems to fail in unidentified projectile launch

SEOUL/TOKYO - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) seemed to have failed in its launch of an unidentified projectile, the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Wednesday.

The JCS said in a statement that the DPRK launched the projectile from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at about 9:30 am local time (0030 GMT), noting that it appeared to have failed soon after the liftoff.

It said the intelligence authorities of ROK and the United States were conducting an additional analysis.

Earlier, Japan's NHK cited the Japanese Defense Ministry as reporting that the DPRK appeared to have launched a ballistic missile on Wednesday morning.

ROK said the DPRK tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system on Feb 27 and March 5, but the DPRK said those were the launches of the reconnaissance satellite development tests.